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TUF 14: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller Live Results and Analysis, Episode 2

The Ultimate Fighter 14: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller got off to a roaring start as the first episode delivered some of the most polished and exciting fights we’ve seen on the show.The franchise will try to keep that momentum going this week as the fig…

The Ultimate Fighter 14: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller got off to a roaring start as the first episode delivered some of the most polished and exciting fights we’ve seen on the show.

The franchise will try to keep that momentum going this week as the fighters move into the house and one more competitor gets eliminated. Of course, that’s no easy task as Episode 1 set the bar pretty high, delivering 13 stoppages against only three decisions in the 16 elimination bouts.

And we’re not talking your garden-variety, ho-hum stoppages either.

Josh Ferguson delivered a crushing TKO in only 14 seconds, Diego Brandao authored a pure knockout in only 47 sweeps of the second hand, Dennis Bermudez came back from the brink of defeat to best Jimmie Rivera via second-round TKO and Marcus Brimage registered a standing TKO of the hard-headed Bryson Wailehua-Hansen.

Meanwhile, Akira Corassani blasted the equally rugged Brian Pearman before ranting about being “from the streets” and immediately endeared himself to Jason Miller by squirting water in Mayhem’s direction, much to the coach’s amusement.

The submissions weren’t quite as eventful, but keep an eye on Roland Delorme, who looked dangerously fluid on the ground, and Steven Siler, who upset the heavily favored (if Vegas released odds on TUF elimination bouts) Micah Miller.

All in all, it was a thoroughly satisfying two hours that are gonna be tough to beat.

Luckily, we’ve got Mayhem Miller and his equally volatile counterpart, Michael Bisping, matching “wits” plus a whole house full of high-energy scrappers to keep us entertained even if the fight action fizzles. Thankfully, the latter doesn’t seem like much of a possibility after the first episode appetizer.

Regardless, tune in tonight at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for the second installment of TUF on Spike TV, and follow along with Bleacher Report as we live blog all the antics.

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Dominick Cruz Reflects on Faber Win, The Ultimate Fighter, Being the Best Ever

There was a time when fighters who roamed weight divisions south of 155 were barely given a second’s thought by the casual fans of MMA. Once in a while Urijah Faber would fight and people would bend an ear but for the most part, the only people buying …

A lot has changed in a short period of time. Along with “The California Kid,” names like Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz have thrown their hat in the ring and showcased to the world just how competitive and entertaining these lighter-weight fighters can be.

Dominick Cruz in particular has not only made huge waves as a top-10 pound-for-pound fighter in the world today, but he has even stolen a little of that thunder and momentum that once followed Faber like the fortune of the gods. The man has made more than one statement for himself and his division of bantamweight combatants.

It is the momentum of fighters like Dom Cruz, Aldo and Faber that opened the door for the UFC to acknowledge that these divisions could indeed perpetuate the sport as much as any other division. So they opened up the books and welcomed the bantamweight and featherweight divisions into the UFC.

This opened the door for Cruz to become the first-ever UFC BW champion over Scottie Jorgensen. He went on to make his first title defense against bitter rival, and the only man to ever beat him, Urijah Faber at UFC 132. Now Dom looks to make his second UFC title defense against Demetrious Johnson at UFC Live On VS 6.

Dom was kind enough to speak with Todd Jackson of The Truth Hurts at Hurtsbad MMA, and the champ took a moment to reflect on avenging that one blemish in his loss column across 19 professional fights.

The first question was, did he take extra satisfaction in beating Faber in such a decisive fashion knowing that there was so much bad blood and trash talk leading up to fight night? The champ answered as decisively as he beat his foe.

“Hell yeah, have you seen some of the pictures that came out after I won? I was on top of the world. Even if that fight wasn’t for a title, that was a win that I wanted so bad. He beat me, and I knew that I could beat him and I knew that I had the skill set to do so.”

While earning a unanimous decision over one of the sport’s most celebrated stars over five rounds was quite an accomplishment in itself, it was not Dominick’s only victory that night. The layers to this victory were many.

The champ went on the explain, “On top of fact of all the media, and all the trash talk, there was just a lot of pressure on going in there and performing in that fight. It wasn’t necessarily just going in there and winning. It was going in there and putting on a performance for the entire 135-pound division.”

Sure to not take all the credit, he talked about what he and Faber were able to do as a duo. “We set the bar for that division. If that fight hadn’t gone as well as it did it could have been bad for our division. There was more to it than just going in there and just beating Faber. There was the title, and the entire division as a whole, it was the first time we had ever headlined a UFC card, there was bad blood between us, there was four years in the making of wanting to beat this guy.”

And then he was able to exhale. “Winning was like taking a weight off of my chest, I felt outstanding after the win. I had put a lot of work in and I continue to work so that I can continue to grow and get better. I want to keep learning and keep beating the people that come my way.”

It had become the feather in the cap of an already impressive career. But it is a career that shows no signs of slowing down. Already considered one of the top fighters in the world, where can Cruz go from here?

When asked about the future and the possibility of his greatness transcending weight classes, Dom humbly answered a question about moving back to the division where he started his fight career, featherweight.

He told The Truth Hurts, “I definitely want to put a star on the fact that I’m very focused on the fact that I’m fighting Mighty Mouse and he is nobody to be looking past. But absolutely you have to think in terms of my career, I’m a fighter. I want to do great things. I want to be considered the best fighter pound for pound that ever lived some day.”

He sees a move on the horizon but is currently focused on today. “Moving up in weight would be something that I am going to have to look into and do in the future. Right now though, I’m not too worried about it. There is a ton of guys in my division.”

Probably the most impressive thing the champ had to say was to critique himself not just in relation to his fighting career but himself as an individual. It is not often that a man will offer more than what is asked of him; the champ was happy to share his goals across life as a whole, not just inside the cage.

“Really there is a lot for me to prove as a person even outside of fighting alone. I’m doing all this stuff in fighting, but I’m an underdog in life. So there is a lot of things that I still need to do to grow as a person before I really start looking beyond too far and beyond what is in front of me.”

Said like a true champion.

As for other aspects to the fight game that have his blood pumping, as if another title defense is not enough, Dom lit up when asked about the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter. This season features both featherweight and bantamweight athletes.

Dom boasted, “It’s exciting to me. Once the 135-pound division makes it to The Ultimate Fighter, it’s out there for the casual fan to see. This is just as respected as any other division in the UFC, and that’s basically what it comes down to. It kind of helps the casual fan respect and understand that there are other weight classes other than 155 pounds and up.”

He sees the potential in these lower divisions being featured by a show like The Ultimate Fighter that really draws a different demographic than the typical hardcore fight fans.

He explained, “I’m excited about it, the sky is the limit now for our division. And the UFC just signed a deal with Fox. I mean you can watch the football game and they are promoting the UFC, that’s unbelievable. I’m just so excited, I’m just amped up. I’m ready to perform and a I really just can’t wait to get out there on October first.”

Looking at that last statement it is hard not to share the champ’s excitement. This sport has been on a roll for quite some time now and the future looks brighter than ever. It is great to know that guys like Dominick Cruz are leading the charge. It reassures us that in the long term the foundation of this sport is being built on class acts and the type of character and ability it will take to make the future as strong as it can possibly be.

This article originally featured at Hurtsbad MMA.

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Clash of the Titans: B/R Featured Columnists Blog for TUF 14, Episode 1

Spike TV’s final season of the Ultimate Fighter is airing on Wednesday nights, and there are no two people more excited for it than Bleacher Report featured columnists Vince Carey and Sal Derose. The 135- and 145-pound weight classes are th…

Spike TV’s final season of the Ultimate Fighter is airing on Wednesday nights, and there are no two people more excited for it than Bleacher Report featured columnists Vince Carey and Sal Derose.

The 135- and 145-pound weight classes are the most entertaining in the sport, and to top it off coaches Jason Mayhem Miller and Michael Bisping are bound to create some drama of their own.

Derose considers Miller one of his favorite fighters of all time, and Carey might be the only person outside of England to love Bisping, so expect some verbal assault from both writers to take place as the season goes on.

We hope to give fans a little insight and a lot of entertainment with this weekly blog that we humbly named Clash of the Titans. As always, hit us up in the comments section with questions or comments.

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TUF 14: ‘Team Bisping vs. Team Miller’ Blog with Cast Member Bryan Caraway

Hey this is Bryan Caraway and my blog for TUF 14. I’m going be writing and explaining things this season that happen throughout the show, giving some behind the scenes commentary. As soon as I land in Vegas and get to the hotel–th…

Hey this is Bryan Caraway and my blog for TUF 14. I’m going be writing and explaining things this season that happen throughout the show, giving some behind the scenes commentary.

As soon as I land in Vegas and get to the hotel–they take my phone away. I had just gotten my phone back after three weeks of not having it due to being in jail, yep I said jail. Which was the first time in my life, due to some bogus traffic violations and fines from 6-yrs previous from a small little country town where I was attending Central Washington University. So you could imagine that bunk bed bench press and garbage can full of water curls didn’t cut it for cardio and fight training!

So they take my phone away, instantly and immediately I regret not making more phone calls to the people I love. Then they tell me I can’t leave the room at all, so right back in jail figuratively speaking. But it sucks even worse because my buddy John Prince Albert, who I used to train with at Dennis Hallmans Victory Athletics in Wa., made it out to the show along with my new Team mate Tj Dillashaw from Team Alpha Male and I couldn’t talk to them or hang out.

So the next day the take random groups of guys to different gyms to cut weight, then round us up and take us to weigh ins. At this point, they’re telling us nothing, so we have no clue where we’re going. We arrive at the Mandalay Bay Event Center and by this time I’m feeling super-pumped up despite being sucked up in weight.

We end up waiting out in front of some giant roll up doors–for what seemed like eternity in 100 degree weather just waiting, then all of a sudden the doors roll up and we see the Octagon sitting in the center of the of the Mandalay Bay…sweet!

We walk in and get in the cage where Dana is waiting for us! That’s when he tells us who are coaches are and about the bonuses, then starts to match us up one fight at a time with a face off of each fight.

The whole time I’m curious to whom there going to match me up with naturally, I’m thinking the guys with the most experience and highest profiles are Micah Miller, Eric Marriot, and myself.

Then bam, I get matched up with Marriot…I think it figures lol, but I am happy because at least I’m fighting someone that I know of. So I’m fighting Marriot a tough guy who is 20-4 pro, but out of shape, so I think screw it lets do this.

So on fight day they bring us to the venue and randomly split us up into red corner and blue corner with Bisping and his staff of coaches in one corner and Mayhem and his staff of coaches in the other.

Luckily for me, I get put in with my buddies, former team mate Prince and new team mate TJ in Bisping’s corner. I wasn’t happy at first about being in Bisping’s corner with his coaches at first, but they had good energy and were light-hearted which made it less stressful.

Bad news is that I’m the very last fight of the whole night despite how Spike shows it. The reason why this is bad news is because I get horrible anxiety before my fights and usually throw up! I just wanna fight and perform to the best of my ability and the long-wait gives my mind too many things to think about.

So the first fight happens and Josh aka TAZ wins then Louis wins from our corner; then a few more fights happen then Prince is up, so I go out and watch him fight and he does well winning in round 1 easily.

Now there’s a lil’ more pressure to make it in the house; then TJ is up against a very tough vet in Matt Jaggers and Tj ends up getting a sweet GnP knockout at the very very end of the round; even more pressure now. So I head to the back, relax and wait for my turn…then finally it’s my turn with a camera in my face asking me “how I feel.”

Shit just got real…and that’s when you see me say at the beginning of the show that I’m nervous and a little scared; then they cut off the rest what I continued to say: why I’m scared, that this is a huge opportunity of a lifetime and I want to perform to the best of my ability.

So the first round I take him down pretty easy, pass his guard and work some side elbows and ground-and-pound, then I scramble to a deep guillotine and he fights out well. So I sweep him get back on top, we scramble, I pass his guard again and pound some more. Then hit a super-deep guillotine that I set up and its really deep, thinking it’s over as I squeeze with every ounce I have–Marriot has to end up giving up mount and I still have it deep thinking he has to go out soon, but he some way finds away to get his hand in and hand fight out of it leaving me in mount.

Then I work some ground-and-pound from mount, but Marriot is no slouch and is moving well so I go back-to-side. I think he ends up scrambling up and my arms are super gassed from the chokes, that I was sure I had and squeezed with all my energy but no available.

Round 2, I stand a little and move around trying to let my arms relax a little–man I’m outta shape and tired as hell, but I push forward and secure a takedown and out grapple him all of Round 2–gassed out of shape–I was super thankful to get the win.

And hey Bisping, I’ve finished almost every fight I’ve ever fought so I’m pretty sure I have the killer instinct it’s called zero cardio–ha. But he didn’t know that I was in jail right before and because I controlled the fight, I think pretty well, it didn’t show too tremendously.

That is why at the very end of the show, I still have my tape on and shirt off because I literally had just finished fighting! After the fights, I went up and did another interview, which they never showed any of my first interviews. Bummer, oh well, we have the whole rest of the season ahead of us!

Thanks for reading stay tuned in for next week, because my blog is going to get real crazy and interesting. You can also catch me on fallout MMA radio this coming Sunday and every Sunday after. Many thanks to Yellow Jacket Clothing, Vicious Fight Gear, and PunchTown, and I’m a Beast Apparel.

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TUF 14: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller Live Results and Analysis, Episode 1

The Ultimate Fighter returns for its 14th and final season on Spike TV when the reality show kicks off Wednesday night.If the first episode is any indicator, the UFC pulled out all the stops for its swan song on the network that helped turn TUF from a …

The Ultimate Fighter returns for its 14th and final season on Spike TV when the reality show kicks off Wednesday night.

If the first episode is any indicator, the UFC pulled out all the stops for its swan song on the network that helped turn TUF from a freak-show oddity into a reality-television and organizational juggernaut.

This season revolves around eight featherweights and eight bantamweights, which makes it a double threat. Not only will we be treated to the usual storyline of competitors vying for a guaranteed UFC contract, but these mighty-mights will also be introducing many MMA fans to new weight classes.

Neither the 145-pound division (featherweight) nor the 135-pound version (bantamweight) are well known to the casual or UFC-or-bust fan, as they are recent additions to the sport’s elite organization. So perhaps it’s no accident that these scrappers seem to be further along in their mixed martial arts development than any of the previous casts.

Without giving too much away, you’ll want to catch the special, two-hour premiere because all 16 elimination bouts are featured (or at least given the highlight treatment) and there are at least four burners that you do not want to miss.

As an added bonus, we’ll have 16 tiny fighters in one house. I say the odds are good at least a quarter of them are toting around serious Napoleonic complexes, which is a little bit like having four smoldering matches in a keg of gun powder.

Actually, when you consider the coaches, you might have six such matches.

For all their warts—and both have more than their share—you cannot accuse either Michael Bisping or Jason Miller of being boring.

Both the Count and Mayhem Miller know how to grab the spotlight and provoke a reaction. Granted, they do so largely by embracing the black hat, but they have their likable moments as well…well, at least Mayhem does.

Add it all up and Season 14 should have in spades exactly what Season 13 lacked—sizzle inside the Octagon as well in the house.

So tune in tonight at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT for the first installment of TUF on Spike TV and follow along with Bleacher Report as we live blog all the mayhem (yep).

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TUF 14: Mayhem Miller Promises to Smash "Idiot" Bisping’s Face and Choke Him out

The 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter is set to debut a week from today, but this season’s fireworks have already started, mainly thanks to the antics of Jason “Mayhem” Miller.Bleacher Report was present for a media conference call held by the UFC to…

The 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter is set to debut a week from today, but this season’s fireworks have already started, mainly thanks to the antics of Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

Bleacher Report was present for a media conference call held by the UFC to promote the debut of the show.

The call felt less like a media event and more like watching (or listening) to a preview of the show since both Miller and his opposite, British star Michael Bisping, were at each other’s throats from the get-go.

“I’ll say this about Michael [Bisping],” started Miller, “he is a complex character, an individual that you could write many tomes of knowledge on.” Miller became more blunt and said, “As the season went on, I hated his guts.”

Miller then shifted his focus to what transpired during the filming of the show, saying “I definitely got under his skin, as you’ll see as the season plays out, he was quite mad…our personality clash put a damn good show on…we both have a strong personalty and they were bound to clash.”

According to Miller, it didn’t take long for the clash between him and Bisping to happen. “He fully proved himself to be a prick by week two,” he admitted.

After another series of verbal jabs in which Bisping stated that Miller was “annoying,” and “idiotic,” Miller retorted to his British opposite by saying “I think you’re way worse [of] an idiot than I am and I’m going to smash your face and choke you!”

The subject then moved onto the coaches that Bisping brought in to help train his team. Miller was not thrilled with the Brit’s choices. “His coaching staff are a lot of guys I’ve trained with back in the day and moved on because they weren’t up to par for what I needed. So that just goes to show you [Bisping’s] level of coaching staff,” Miller said.

This started a verbal scuffle in which Bisping criticized Miller for bringing on “a gay chiropractor” as one of the members of his coaching team.

When the dust settled after the conference, the only things the two adversaries could agree on were that this upcoming season would be one you don’t want to miss, and that they both hated one another. But, of course, Miller couldn’t agree with Bisping without being clever.

“We hate each other’s guts,” he said. But he then added “I can’t speak for [Bisping] because I can’t talk with that stupid accent.”

All of this trash-talk may seem controversial, but it will help the Ultimate Fighter escape the dreadful rut it’s been in for quite some time. Also, the men may dislike one another but do not harbor any ill will since as Miller eloquently put it, “there is a brotherhood among fighters, all of us.”

That brotherhood will be tested in the Ultimate Fighter house as well as in the finale on December 3, 2011, when Bisping and Miller finally meet one another.

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