(Video courtesy MMAWeekly)
When Miguel Torres’ longtime mentor and teacher, Carlson Gracie passed away in 2006, his protegee soon after ventured out on his own to open his own gym where he would train himself and a handful of up-and-coming fighte…
(Video courtesy MMAWeekly)
When Miguel Torres’ longtime mentor and teacher, Carlson Gracie passed away in 2006, his protegee soon after ventured out on his own to open his own gym where he would train himself and a handful of up-and-coming fighters in Hammond, Indiana.
For a few years, the system seemed to be working as he continued to rack up wins and dominate all comers in the WEC.
Then, it happened on August 9, 2009.
After logging three strong minutes in the first round of his fourth title defense, Torres got floored by the right hand of challenger Brian Bowles and was knocked out by the follow-up barrage of ground-and-pound as he worked to secure an armbar.
Shaking off the loss, Torres figured spending more time training in the gym would get him back on track.
(The beginning of the Johnson/Wilkinson battle from last night. You can watch the rest here. Props: SignofBelief)
Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres may have impressed us in last week’s fight, but he’s making no friends in the house by bragging …
(The beginning of the Johnson/Wilkinson battle from last night. You can watch the rest here. Props: SignofBelief)
Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres may have impressed us in last week’s fight, but he’s making no friends in the house by bragging about his victory non-stop. While hanging out with the defeated Jeff Lentz, he says that Jeff may have been "underesterating my talents and skills," and claims that every head kick bounced off his afro. Lentz manages to avoid strangling the bastard, but the other TUF guys are quickly losing patience.
GSP brings in wrestling world champion Guivi "Gia" Sissaouri, to work with his squad. Homeboy is sick on the mat. It’s a great little master-class for the guys, but Georges has another visitor coming in later that will make Gia look like small potatoes. (Hint: Face tattoos, tigers.)
Down 0-1, Koscheck is playing catch-up. His fighters already seem to be breaking down, physically and emotionally, so Kos makes it clear that they need to toughen up and quit ass-dragging in practice. Training seems to improve after that.
It’s fight announcement time, and since Team GSP won last week, they retain control of the picks. St. Pierre selects Michael Johnson (his craftily-obtained #1 draft pick) against Aaron Wilkinson (Koscheck’s #6 pick??). GSP is obviously looking to take Koscheck’s heart with a brutal victory, but is it a wise strategy to waste your ace on the other team’s weakest link? (Keep in mind that Jeff Lentz was Team Koscheck’s #7 pick.) Still, a badass wrestler vs. a British guy. This seems gift-wrapped for the red team.
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveGeorges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck, the two coaches on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, agreed on one thing after assessing all the prospects on this year’s show: The best of the bunch was Michael Johnson.
Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck, the two coaches on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, agreed on one thing after assessing all the prospects on this year’s show: The best of the bunch was Michael Johnson.
But even though Koscheck had the first pick, it was St. Pierre who used a little deception to trick Koscheck into bypassing Johnson when the two picked their teams. That resulted in Johnson going to Team GSP, which is where he said he wanted to go.
In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Johnson talked about how he felt learning that St. Pierre wanted him above all the other fighters, and about some friction with his teammate, Alex “Bruce Leroy” Cacares, who won the fight on the second episode of Season 12.
(Crappy, TV-shot video of the Alex Caceres vs. Jeff Lentz fight, courtesy of TheMMAResource.)
After last week’s trial by fire, it’s time for the 14 UFC hopefuls to move into the house and get comfy. And boy is the new TUF house classy. The dining …
(Crappy, TV-shot video of the Alex Caceres vs. Jeff Lentz fight, courtesy of TheMMAResource.)
After last week’s trial by fire, it’s time for the 14 UFC hopefuls to move into the house and get comfy. And boy is the new TUF house classy. The dining room has a chandelier in it and everything.
Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres and Jeff Lentz down some shots right away. They’re both characters. Jeff’s a chain-smoker from Jersey with a dye-job, and says he’ll never tap, not even to an armbar. (Pay attention! This will be important later!) The guys are apprehensive about the cigs and booze that Lentz is constantly consuming, but Jeff says he’s just playing with them, and he actually has gas for days. I mean, he’s clearly a nicotine addict and probably has a drinking problem on top of that, but it’s all just a persona, y’know? As for Alex, he can play the harmonica, he once killed a gator with his bare hands, and he nearly murdered a deer, too. But as they say, man is the most dangerous game.
In advance of the team selections, Coach Josh Koscheck has every guy in the house ranked, 1-14. He’s got Michael Johnson at #1, Marc Stevens at #2, Sako "Psycho" Chivitchian and Sevak Magakian at 3 and 4. Koscheck loves those Armenians, bro.
Greg Jackson has been here before with Rashad Evans on TUF 10, and now he’s Georges St. Pierre‘s consigliere. He advises Georges to go after the first matchup rather than the first fighter, if possible. GSP knows that Koscheck likes Michael Johnson, so he gets an idea to try a little gamesmanship. "We’ll see if he’s smart," GSP says. Koscheck, as it turns out, is not smart.
("Wouldn’t it have been easier to just accept my friend request?" PicProps: CP24.com)
UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre tells our guy Fowlkes at MMA Fighting this week that he typically doesn’t like to get to know his opponents …
("Wouldn’t it have been easier to just accept my friend request?" PicProps: CP24.com)
UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre tells our guy Fowlkes at MMA Fighting this week that he typically doesn’t like to get to know his opponents on a personal level before he fights them. Since we all know that deep down GSP is kind of a bleeding-heart softy, he worries that if he comes to like and respect his foes it will be more difficult for him to beat the stuffing out of them in the cage.
“It’s hard," St. Pierre says. "Because let’s say in the fight you have a good position on him to hurt him, you know, to put him away and really hurt him. It’s harder to do. That’s why I like to be away from my opponent."
Apparently – and to absolutely no one’s surprise — getting to know Josh Koscheck while filming season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter” had the exact opposite effect. In fact, St. Pierre says the most difficult thing about his TUF 12 experience was just having to hang out in close proximity to that insufferable dick. And here we thought the worst part of the reality show for GSP would be not being able to go to Club Orchid for a few weeks …
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveGeorges St. Pierre won’t lie, he didn’t exactly have a great time filming season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which premieres Wednesday night on Spike TV.
Don’t misunderstand him, he’s glad he went through it, he …
Georges St. Pierre won’t lie, he didn’t exactly have a great time filming season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which premieres Wednesday night on Spike TV.
Don’t misunderstand him, he’s glad he went through it, he said. He’s also glad that it’s over. While some fighters dislike the reality show coaching gig because it takes them away from home and disrupts their normal routine, for St. Pierre the problem wasn’t so much the atmosphere as the company.
“I was with Josh Koscheck, so that was hard,” the UFC welterweight champ told MMA Fighting. “He’s very arrogant and I don’t like to be close to this guy. But I didn’t have a choice. It was a few weeks where I had to be there close to him.”
But while being alongside the brash challenger made St. Pierre’s coaching job considerably more irritating, there were some upsides to being forced to see Koscheck’s smirking mug in the gym.
