The internet fan base of mixed martial arts that reads blogs and news sites on a daily basis is going to hate the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter show no matter what.

These aren’t concrete facts, but they are most likely to be true if you read this article a year from now. I probably wouldn’t because it will fall under what most MMA posts end up being – dull highly opinionated talking points over matters that only a small concentrated percentage of the fan base care about. I mean, look at blogs these days. Blogs I do, in totality, respect even. Evan Tanner? My neighbor doesn’t care about Evan Tanner. It’s cool that you are such a fan that you care if Tanner makes it back to a certain level, or writes a MySpace note, but is he really worth debating about? How about the goofiness of DREAM of World Victory Road? Couldn’t we all just post on one site that everyone agrees to send new hardcore fans to a note reminding them that Japanese MMA and Pro Wrestling are closely related, less sports and more entertainment, and controlled by the mafia of that country? I mean, I’ve read this stuff for years and frankly I don’t care about any of these guys unless they’re fighting live on my TV with an issue that might make me want to pay for it if it’s not free.

Which brings me back to the original point - once every 4-5 days I’ll shoot through this blog and the headlines on RSS feeds of many others. I rarely read any of the articles anymore. I’ve stopped reading newsletters as well. The amount of relevant information and debate can be consumed in a five minute sitting in a week. Here it is for you:

-The UFC makes millions upon millions of dollars from Spike TV for producing TUF. They use it to promote new unknown fighters, of which they’ll sign several, to contracts that will barely total a fraction of what Spike pays in rights fees. So UFC is a business, and they make money. MLB, NBA, and the NFL do the same thing.

-A percentage of new fans are made from this show and then buy UFC PPVs. They are promoted heavily during TUF, and there is usually a coaching tie-in on the show for an upcoming fight. Those PPVs on average get over 500,000 buys at between $45-55 per buy. Major companies also pay to sponsor both the PPV and the Spike show annually.

-TUF makes money for UFC by itself. TUF makes fighters names to the casual fan, who makes up a huge percentage of UFC paying customers and doesn’t know any MMA media exists. Everything feeds the business and locks out other MMA from gaining a foothold. It’s a branding thing.

There ya go. Someone post this on a blog, and then commit it to memory and erase it. It’s as irrelevant as most of the talking points that get batted around day in and day out. Blogs are like the UFC shows. There are too many UFC cards in a year, but it’s done because they make money. Blogs could probably get away with posting one daily update and maybe one op-ed a week. They don’t because the more they get read that much more if they separate it all. So UFC and say, Sherdog, really aren’t that different.

See you in a month.

BJ Penn and Sean Sherk are two of the greatest pound for pound fighters in the world, and yet they couldn’t be more different. Penn is one of the greatest jiu-jitsu technicians on the planet, he’s limber and he’s agile. He strikes with finesse and versatility and shows some of the best technical savvy out there.

Sherk’s a technician too, but no one talks about his technique. He’s a wrestler, phenomenally skilled, but if you looked at him, you see a man built like a Greek statue, if the Greeks had been sponsored by Balco.

Sherk has one of the most incredibly athletic, potently strong games in the sport. He dominates opponents with sheer force of will and the muscle to back it up. His arms are like freakish inflatables and even when he was fighting at 170 pounds, he was considered by many to be one of the most physically dominant fighters in the division, losing only to the top two warriors of the era: Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre.

Some people think that the 155 pound division was built for Sean Sherk, but whether that is true or not, it has certainly become his pond, and he’s dominated it viciously.

Sherk’s only problem, and the only reason to question his dominance, came after he tested positive for steroids against Hermes Franca, and while Sherk was stripped of his title and suspended, he has been quick to deny the accusations, even taking a follow-up test that was negative.

Whether or not Sherk took steroids has everything to do wit this fight, as it will reveal whether the freakish physical specimen we have come to expect from Sherk shows up, or whether he is coming out to play with a serious disadvantage, weaning himself off of the juice.

We will see whether or not Sherk’s conditioning is what it once was, and some of us will question Sherk’s ability when it comes to handling a jiu-jitsu monster as quick and flexible as Penn. Certainly, if anyone is going to give Sherk trouble off of his back, it’s going to be the warrior from Hilo.

The fight is impending, at this point, and we’ll see soon who really deserves to win the UFC lightweight division. It will be a war between two top fighters who have danced around each other for a long time, and who’s smack talk has made clear there’s no love lost.

Personally, this is one of the best matchups the UFC has offered in a while, and I’m looking forward to it.

So why did the UFC decide to air a show opposite of live MMA action? If you go out and ask anyone on the street who Chuck Liddell is, you’ll get a pretty decent response. Ask those same people if they like watching live sports and your reaction might be even better. Ask people on the street if they enjoy documentaries and, well, your response might not be so positive. So what makes those running the UFC show think that people will stop watching EliteXC’s live Saturday Night Fights on CBS to learn about the life of an injured former light-heavyweight champion on Spike TV?

If anything, trying to go head to head with live action fights by using a documentary will only provide backup commercial-break material for MMA fans watching Saturday Night Fights. Will those viewers learn anything about Liddell in the few minutes between fights? Probably not. And I’m sure the whole point is to just grab viewers to learn about the UFC, MMA, and fighters, but I definitely don’t see a documentary doing any damage to EliteXC. As a fan, I’ll record the one-hour Liddell documentary and watch the live fights. I doubt anyone will be coming over at 9PM to learn about the Iceman and his rise to fame. Instead, the party will arrive when the fights begin and the bell rings.

A better solution, one that will never occur, is to set the Liddell documentary to begin either before or after the fighting action. If anything, it could provide an interesting lead into the fights or something to watch after the fights end. But head to head, the fights win.

It doesn’t end there, however. You can also watch Liddell and Wanderlei Silva go at it during UFC 79 for the first time on cable television at 10PM EST in the UFC’s second attempt to go head to head with Saturday Night Fights. Considering that Zuffa makes every attempt to keep their fights off of the internet, they may grab some viewers if Saturday Night Fights doesn’t meet the expectations of the viewers. But then you still have the people with TiVo’s and DVR’s who simply won’t sacrifice live footage for old news. Head to head, live fights are almost always better than their taped counterpart. Although the fight between Silva and Liddell went the distance, it lacked a climatic ending and may disappoint some. I’d suggest sticking to EliteXC’s broadcast to determine if Saturday Night Fights is something that will be be a consistent part of our Saturday nights.

It’s apparent the UFC isn’t gonig anywhere anytime soon.

The first possible scenario for Nog’s opponent could be Frank Mir. Mir’s rejuvenated career started with a win over WWE sensation Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 by submission. In that fight Lesnar seemed to be in control, and looked to win by knockout but Mir’s Ju Jitsu experience took over and led to a quick submission.

Another scenario would put the winner of the Brandon Vera and Fabricio Werdum up against the champ. Vera lost his previous fight by unanimous decision against Tim Sylvia at UFC 77. This was a disappointing performance by Vera and he looks to silence the critics against Werdum. Vera actually owns a TKO finish over Frank Mir, and is 8-1 in his MMA career. Fabricio Werdum is a submission fighter that is 10-3-1 in his professional fighting career. In his last fight he defeated up and coming star Gabriel Gonzaga, who is best known for his head kick to Mirko Cro Cop. Both of these fighters could be good competition for Nog, but they won’t be able to challenge him like Randy or Fedor could.

With the addition of Nog at UFC 87, it looks to be setting up a fight between the winner of the Nog fight, and the winner of the Lesnar vs. Coleman fight. Lesnar lost in his last fight, but showed promising skill and the makings of a heavyweight force. Coleman is one of the few inductees of the UFC hall of fame. He is a Hammer House fighter that is 15-8 in his career. He has wins over the likes of Shogun Rua, Don Frye, and Dan Severn. Coleman is currently the underdog in this fight and is expected to be a stepping stone for Lesnar.

There was a time when BJ Penn was considered the most dangerous fighter in the world, pound-for-pound the most frustrating man that you could have standing across the cage.

Even before BJ came into MMA, his skills as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner were well documented. He was a prodigy in jiu-jitsu and he didn’t come across the name by accident. Penn is a world class submission fighter, and has one of the most incredible, innate abilities for learning the martial arts. Fighters as legendary as Frank Shamrock, who coached him when Penn first turned to MMA, have always been impressed with his ability to learn techniques and put them into practice.

While Penn is really most noted for his jiu-jitsu, his striking skills are also impressive, and he has displayed them most effectively when fighting at 155. When he initially began fighting at 155 pounds, he knocked out his first three opponents: Joey Gilbert, Din Thomas and Caol Uno.

There’s a serious chance Penn will fight Sherk off of his back, as Sherk has been known to ground and pound and hasn’t been afraid to take down any of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelts he’s fought recently (and both of the competitors who challenged him for his belt have been blackbelts). Still, there is a serious difference in competition between a blackbelt and a world champion blackbelt.

Penn has a level of jiu-jitsu that Sherk has not had to deal with, and has fought off of his back against bigger, powerful ground and pound fighters before, including in both of his fights with former Welterweight champion Matt Hughes. While Penn dropped the second fight with Hughes when he broke a rib and was eventually TKO’d in the third, he dominated the fight off of his back previous to that point and his quick submissions and flexibility make it hard to stay aggressive.

If Sherk chooses to take the fight to the ground, there’s a good chance that we will see the world class wizard at work, and if Sherk forces him to stay standing, we will see one of the most aggressive strikers in the lighter divisions.

Wherever BJ goes, it will be somewhere he is comfortable. He has power in every position and he can do damage from anywhere, and there’s a serious chance that the Prodigy will bring the undisputed title back to Hilo.

It’s our lucky day, again, as HDNet comes to the rescue with some potentially exciting Japanese MMA to be aired on May 2nd. Granted it’s not live, but we will be watching Dream 2 even before Japanese viewers will get a chance to see MMA action in their own homes. Sure, you can read about the results, chat on the forums, or try to watch grainy videos, but nothing comes close to watching the event in high definition.

So where is the love for HDNet? I don’t routinely find people writing about how much HDNet has done for MMA in the short time that the channel has been airing MMA fights. Do we take the channel for granted or is it just another expensive HD channel that only a few of us can barely afford?

Mark Cuban isn’t on the receiving end of many compliments either these days. As the head of the company, Cuban has rose through the ranks as an entrepreneur who went from being an average joe to a billionaire, but people still write him off as someone who is just cashing in on the sport. While it’s certainly questionable that Cuban began airing MMA fights as soon as the sport began to take off, his company has also taken many risks by airing so many small domestic fights along with the big international fights like Yarennoka. Even the IFL is shown on HDNet after being dropped from their spot on MyNetworkTV. Cuban gets points just for being that guy who is taking a chance on the small MMA promotions that would otherwise receive no reputable television coverage.

Not only does HDNet go out and capture all of these events for our viewing pleasure, their HD feed is amazingly clear. Although the UFC 83 HD quality improved slightly from the previous live pay per view events, they still didn’t even come close to what can be seen on HDNet on a random weeknight. You also can’t find a worthwhile MMA news show on Spike TV like Inside MMA with our friends Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice.

So what’s not to love about HDNet right now? You get both local and international fight cards in high definition with a weekly news show to boot. There’s no Bill Goldberg, no expensive pay per views, and the organization might just stick around for a while. I’m off to watch Reckless Abandon 2 from Dallas Texas. You know, the one with Frank Trigg and Edwin Dewees?

Sean Sherk is a physical specimen in the 155 pound weight division. He is the never get tired and top conditioned athlete that many strive to be like. If the UFC was a body building contest he would not have many competitors. However it is not, and in this game of fighting certain things are illegal.

After his last fight, Sherk tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone Metabolite. Other notable athletes that have also tested positive for Nandrolone are Roger Clemens (not confirmed yet), Sean Merriman, and Kurt Angle. This anabolic steroid naturally appears in the body and it’s one of the most abused steroids taken by athletes and other users. Nandrolone accelerates muscle growth, strength, aggressiveness, and recovery.

Once testing positive for this steroid, Sherk has stayed consistent stating “I worked extremely hard to get to this point in my career and now I have this attached to my name, even though I’m 100 percent innocent,” in an interview with Yahoo.

So there we were… Sherk tested positive and seems to be in the middle of a steroid controversy. He was stripped of his title and served his suspension. In one failed series of tests SHerk went from one of the fan favorite to one of the most hated fighters in the sport.

The main question I keep trying to answer is… Does Sherk deserve to fight for the title next?

On one side of the argument, he completed the requirements of his suspension. He should be the #1 contender assuming that he can fight with the same aggressiveness and constant pressure as before. This is the side that I tend to go with. Whether he was taking steroids or not, he completed the required punishment and it is now time to move on. If he is the same guy, Penn in my opinion is the only guy that can fight with Sherk in that division.

On the other side, many think that he should not be fighting for the title. He tested positive and has never came clean. Not one time has he ever stated that he did it and “manned up” for his actions. The Sherk hate was in full effect when Penn said “Sean Sherk your dead!”, as Sherk stepped in the ring. The boo birds were flying high and let him hear it. He did test positive, and most fans just want an apology.

It is unlikely we will ever truly know for sure whether Sherk was taking steroids or not. It would take him saying he did it for us to have complete confirmation. Sherk has been one of the most exciting fighters in the smaller weight classes of the UFC. According to the Fight Finder he has an insane 31-2-1 record. Not many can say that, and his only 2 losses were against great fighters. One was to a future Hall of Famer and the best 170 pound fighter of all time in Matt Hughes, the other was to the guy that beat Hughes for his title in George St. Pierre.

Sherk and Penn promises to be a great fight. I am not going to make my prediction yet, but the energy that Sherk will bring, and the great all around game of Penn should make this one of the fights of the year. I believe that Sherk should be fighting for the title. It was his to lose, he lost it, and now it is time for him to make his attempt to become the champion yet again.

My generation had a tragedy of its own on September 11, 2001. It played out in a much more graphic sense, live on TV as planes hit and then buildings fell. I had Peter Jennings, as did so many other Americans, as my touching voice to both encapsulate history and calm any sense of fear. It was Jennings who had taught me about death as a six year old. Pre-school let out early and I sat on my father’s lap in front of a TV as Jennings explained why a school teacher, much like my own, had passed away with others on a space shuttle called Challenger.

These are extreme examples of citizens all experiencing a traumatic event at the exact same time through eyes provided to us. While it is certainly hyperbole to compare these events to tragedy and triumphs in sports, there are threads of reactionary behavior and thought that remain the same in any example. A sociologist or psychologist knows there are a few common bonds that link any event with another.
The first is basic. When Cronkite spoke, he spoke through a relatively new box Americans had placed in their homes. Similarly, my memories of Jennings were viewed through this same box. When CBS/Elite XC has their first event in front of the nation, millions of first time viewers will see the sport of MMA through this same box: The TV.

The second link, while more subtle, should be on the minds of every MMA fan, but more importantly ever CBS and Elite XC decision maker in a position of power on this project. A calming voice. Why, you might ask, should that be an attribute to be considered of anyone being considered for a sports announcing job? After all, the most successful MMA squad consists of Mike Golberg’s hyperbole of sound bite or Joe Rogen’s passionate sales pitch of each fighter’s abilities. Imagine this scenario:
A man is sitting at home watching TV with his wife. At the same time many friends, male and female, gather at a local bar. A few blocks away an elderly couple watches TV, half awake, in their bedroom. A family somewhere, consisting of Mom, Dad, two young boys and a teenage girl, decides to watch whatever Dad wants to see. In fact, this is all happening thousands of times over in every scenario across America. They’ve all tuned in to CBS and found Elite XC.

Now imagine a fighter gets cut. Not just a small cut though, a gaping wound on the eyebrow. It’s nothing you the experienced fight watcher haven’t seen, but the blood pouring from his forehead like a faucet is starting to bother Mom. It’s bothering The older couple too. A few people in the bar, male and female, are beginning to verbally become concerned, and it’s alerting other people who didn’t care to watch in the first place. This guy is bleeding everywhere, and it’s upsetting someone’s girlfriend, sister, the old couple, and the guy who finds fighting barbaric. It’s happening across the TV, and first thing Monday, somethings gotta be done by a few of those people. They can’t understand why they’d allow this to go on. The people on TV just allowed it to happen. In fact, they seemed excited it did. They didn’t care at all. So a few of those people feel the need to do something about it, and the next thing you know CBS is under some scrutiny.

Some of this will happen no matter what anyone says, thinks, or does. There are people who would not get it after carefully investigation and education. MMA is not something everyone will condone or accept. But that number can be significantly lessened by a calming voice. That being the voice of CBS’s lead announcer, whoever that might be.

CBS Sports executives (and perhaps the entertainment ones too) have a major choice to make in conjunction with Elite XC brass. Who will be the lead voice of MMA to the masses? I hope they choose wisely. I hope they choose a man who can convey the drama and excitement, while at the same time showing the ability to explain the sport. If a man is cut on an eyebrow live on CBS and starts gushing blood during a match, it’s the woman sitting next to the everyman that the MMA fan should be concerned about. It’s the politician nearing an election or key alliance. Because even if that cut is a superficial would that has a minimal effect on his ability to fight, I can assure you the effects to MMA might not be so superficial. These are the realities that should resonate with decision makers in the CBS/Elite XC project.

There is a lot of pressure on whoever is chosen, but I’m most hopeful that whoever that person is they have the ability to use a controlled voice that grabs ears if a brutal knock out or bloody fight takes place. In the heat of the moment there will be and should be excitement, but it’s important to realize some people watching are going to need to be educated. Not about Jiu-jitsu or cage control, but about superficial wounds. Or the types of injuries that actually occur. Or that only one person has died. They need to do all that credibly and strongly while still being exciting. I do not envy them in the least.
Cronkite was often considered the most trusted man in America. MMA doesn’t need an announcer to be that accountable. He (or she) just needs to be calm, cool, and collected. No one can be prepared to the degree that might be necessary. After all, the worst case scenario isn’t a gushing superficial wound or a broken arm. It’s Sam Vasquez dying in the ring in Houston late last year. Last time I checked there was really no one to blame for Vasquez early passing, but does anyone really believe that something like that won’t be the “fault” of MMA if it airs LIVE on CBS?

My choice would be Mauro Ranallo. Mauro has the ability to be a hype man, a sound bite king for TV commercial use, and a source of knowledge to the new viewers. I’ve seen him embody not just a lead announcer or a PLAY BY PLAY MAN, but a great communicator with an aptitude for switching to an articulate concerned voice. A calming voice who can talk a fan out of panic or nerves while maintaining the integrity of the play-by-play of the match itself.

Many people see Ranallo as a court jester with bad jokes and a stupid catch phrase. If you listen to his radio show you’re right. The jokes are lame and “Yo yo yo, and away we go” isn’t cool the first time you hear it. Then listen to Mauro be interviewed by other media personalities about the business. He’s got a great mature sense of what he does and what the business is. He gets it. Listen to his work in Pride and as recently as the last Strikeforce show in San Jose. He gets it.

CBS/Showtime and Elite XC have a tough choice. I’m sure they’d like to go with a CBS name who did football once or some other B-team guy who might have a sudden fascination with MMA. Don’t do it. In late May if Kimbo Slice knocks Thompson silly I want Mauro Ranallo making the sound bite call, then reigning himself in to quell any fears that Thompson is actually dead on the canvas. Even if you don’t like Ranallo, would it save us all some trouble? Just in case.

There is a moment in the lone round of the fight with Herring where Fedor picks Heath up and slams him down into the canvas, and I remember being twelve years old, watching that slam and going, “Damn.”

To say I follow Fedor with personal investment in his career is overstating it. There are fighters that I believe that I have a much bigger stake in, fighters who I have backed a little bit more than I realistically should have because I want them to get some extra attention. Still, there is something about Fedor that makes me, and every hardcore MMA fan I know, revert to the child/enthusiast in them, yelling and screaming at the TV.

Fedor is not as polarized as Muhammad Ali, nor as well covered as Mike Tyson. He does not have the mass media appeal of Bruce Lee, or the beard of Chuck Norris. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind that Fedor is the greatest fighter in the history of combat sports. He has dominated in a way that not even Rickson Gracie did, because Fedor has done it in the presence of men who, without him, would have been just as legendary, and anyone familiar with the history of the sport knows that Rickson only fought a handful of guys worth talking about.

Mirko CroCop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are titans of our time in a way that Sonny Liston and Evander Holyfield weren’t, because they bring aspects of the game that no one else does. They don’t talk big like Liston or boast some of the flamboyance that Holyfield did. They are, very much like Fedor, stone cold killers, who are explosive and dangerous and respectable, and they are well feared by those who are going to step in with them, a respect that doesn’t get pushed aside by big-talking boxers trying to make names for themselves.

People will ask me why Fedor is the greatest fighter ever, and I pull up Fedor vs. Randleman on youtube, or (if the UFC pulls it off for copyright reasons) the DVD I have of the Critical Countdown 2004 event where it went down. If they say that’s only one fight, I’ll point them to the Zuluzinho fight, the Goodridge fight or both Coleman matches. For those who understand how big the matchups between Fedor and his top rivals (fighters like CroCop and Nogueira) were, I walk them through Fedor’s game, and how he controlled those fights, even when it looked like he didn’t.

The fact is, nobody in the sport has stayed as dominant as long as Fedor has and, while people will dispute his status because he hasn’t fought top tier competition in a little while (though the fight with Mark Hunt wasn’t that long ago), when he fights Tim Sylvia in Adrenaline, he’ll remind us something very important: there’s a reason why he’s feared, because he is dangerous anywhere and everywhere.

I, like many of my fellow long time Pride fans, will be watching the approaching Adrenaline card, as it has offered us the opportunity to see Fedor fight a top heavyweight, even if that heavyweight is Tim Sylvia. Certainly, a war with the former UFC champion/ogre will be exciting. It will be the second time Fedor has fought an opponent with a size advantage and a supposed advantage in the standup department, but if Randy Couture can put the Maine-iac down with a punch, who’s going to say that Fedor can’t end this fight standing, as well as on the ground.

The sport is changing, but Fedor seems to evolve even faster. Hopefully, we will see a new level of performance in his fight with Sylvia. While a debut in the UFC seems unlikely, at least in the immediate future, the presence of Fedor as a force in the world of independent MMA and as the most dominant heavyweight in the world seems unquestionable.

In a recent blog post, Lutter confirmed the news.

Lutter’s record does not really tell his story. He is 1-2 since the UTF 4 finale and his only recent win came against Patrick Cote in that fight at the finale. Since then he has fought 2 of the best fighters at 185 in the world. In both of these fights he at one point seemed to have the upper hand.

After Travis fought Cote, he was offered a title shot against Anderson Silva. At the moment Silva is considered to be the best fighter pound for pound in the world by many fans! Lutter had control of this fight at one time. He had Silva mounted and was raining shots to the face and head of Silva, but was unable to finish. Shortly after this point Silva was able to reverse things and gain control. Lutter eventually tapped due to some nasty elbows by Silva. Lutter did lose this fight but looked very solid in the cage at one point.

In his next fight in the UFC he fought against one of the most popular fighters in the division in Rich Franklin. Franklin was rebounding off of another Silva loss, and seemed determined not to have his nose broke yet again. For one split second in this fight, Lutter had Franklin in trouble. Lutter tried an armbar attempt that surely put a scare to Franklin and his training camp. After the failed submission attempt, Lutter seemed to gas as Franklin dominated the rest of the fight to win.

Travis Lutter will indeed be picked up by another MMA organization. If he is to make a push for their title, he needs to improve the conditioning and standup portions of his game. Overall he has 9 wins and 5 losses, with 7 of the wins coming from submission. In his career he has been victorious over fighters such as Marvin Eastman and Patrick Cote. Lutter does not have the overall game to become a champion in the UFC, but he is a veteran that can finish a fight by submission from any position. We will hear more from him in the future for sure.