TUF 19 - Penn, Edgar + Pendred & Fields! **Spoilers**

DrPhilG

Don't mean to bash but I agree with the sentiments of a few here. Pendred has the potential to be a solid UFC fighter IMO, maybe not challenger, but he'll hold his own.

But I said before the show started and before the infamous first fight that I don't think Fields is good enough to even be in the UFC. If he was 23 or 24 then maybe he could improve to that level, but he's 30 and just flopped on the big TUF stage.

Dana seems intent on not giving any of the also rans a fight on the finale undercard, and the fact that Fields hasn't been named for Dublin despite being out of TUF would seem to bear that up.

Dtp1979

DrPhilG wrote: »

Don't mean to bash but I agree with the sentiments of a few here. Pendred has the potential to be a solid UFC fighter IMO, maybe not challenger, but he'll hold his own.

But I said before the show started and before the infamous first fight that I don't think Fields is good enough to even be in the UFC. If he was 23 or 24 then maybe he could improve to that level, but he's 30 and just flopped on the big TUF stage.

Dana seems intent on not giving any of the also rans a fight on the finale undercard, and the fact that Fields hasn't been named for Dublin despite being out of TUF would seem to bear that up.

Unless there's an injury in the house and chris gets a lucky spot

$ausage$

My 2 cents are as follows.

1. Yes he might not have been at a standard of others but everyone says he has come along way thanks to the training. I don't remember watching a TUF saying they are UFC quality it's very rare. He will go home better for it and people see ireland on the Mma map. No such thing as bad press.

2. Yes season is shocking but you have to realise it's set up that way. A lot of guys get paid a lot of money to be match makers for good reason. So allowing coaches to pick will always be a boring fight unless the picks left are slim.

So let's stop trying to be the English media here and let's just say thanks to the guys for giving us a good show and for representing us. (But please stop the ole ole crap)

adamski8

English media? That's a strange one. Thanks for giving us a good show? Didnt didnt, all the fights including theirs sucked. If anything we shouldn't say they were great just cause they are Irish.

Kent Brockman

Saw Chris KO Jack Mason with a good head kick & although it was impressive, it was very early in the fight so not much else to go on.

Thought he looked a few levels below JT Money in their fight & lets be honest Taylor is not exactly top tier either.

Looked like he was getting well beaten in the entry fight to the house so at this point I was beginning to doubt if he belonged there at all & expected him to lose his fight.

Having said all that I was actually impressed with the heart he showed in that fight & believe he has improved from his time in the house. He had a very big and awkward opponent & I think it could have gone to a 3rd.

Think & hope the experience will do him good & of course I will support him & wish him all the best, as I would with any Irish fighter (+ Gunni & Arni :-) ).

Is it coming across that a few in the house don't like him or is that just the other team being douches?

MrStuffins

$ausage$ wrote: »

So let's stop trying to be the English media here and let's just say thanks to the guys for giving us a good show and for representing us.

No.

This is a discussion forum. If it is someone's opinion (like it is mine) that Chris isn't up to standard then that should be said. Just because he's Irish, doesn't mean we should not give our opinions and just say "Thanks lads".

Both lads are doing a great job. Both are coming across well and they are great representatives of the sport from our country. But Chris isn't up to the standard and both of his fights have shown that.

Even though Chris lost his fight and got starched in the fight to get into the house the coaches and other fighters said he was the most improved guy in the house, who knows he might even come out of it, get a prelim fight and be a lot better, there's a big gap between filming for TUF and the pro fight on the UFC card.

MagicIRL

I reckon Chris will sign for the UFC. He'll work his way on to the main card via preliminary fights. His foot is already in the UFC door. Remember that TUF isn't the be all and end all of a fighter. Paddy Hoolahan didn't make the UFC house for TUF18 and he's just signed for the UFC. Hard work pays off. Delighted for each and every one of them.

DrPhilG

Then why hasn't Chris been announced for the Dublin card?

JojoD51

I'm assuming Pendred will be on the card if he doesn't advance to final (because they keep harping on about the 'Hype' surrounding him in Ireland) and he deserves it but I really hope Fields get's on this card as his fights are always good to watch, probably better than most on 174. Don't think any of the fights we have seen on tuf represent the skill sets of any of the fighters (Williams in particular). And on a side note, if Owen Roddy hadn't retired would have loved to see him on the card.

rolexeagle1

JojoD51 wrote: »

I'm assuming Pendred will be on the card if he doesn't advance to final (because they keep harping on about the 'Hype' surrounding him in Ireland) and he deserves it but I really hope Fields get's on this card as his fights are always good to watch, probably better than most on 174. Don't think any of the fights we have seen on tuf represent the skill sets of any of the fighters (Williams in particular). And on a side note, if Owen Roddy hadn't retired would have loved to see him on the card.

If Cathal loses his fight on Thursday on TUF maybe. If not, well he will be on TUF finale the week before

$ausage$

adamski8 wrote: »

English media? That's a strange one. Thanks for giving us a good show? Didnt didnt, all the fights including theirs sucked. If anything we shouldn't say they were great just cause they are Irish.

The reference was a WC one as in the English media build the team up then shoot them down if its not the right result.

$ausage$

MrStuffins wrote: »

No.

This is a discussion forum. If it is someone's opinion (like it is mine) that Chris isn't up to standard then that should be said. Just because he's Irish, doesn't mean we should not give our opinions and just say "Thanks lads".

Both lads are doing a great job. Both are coming across well and they are great representatives of the sport from our country. But Chris isn't up to the standard and both of his fights have shown that.

Yeh I see your point and agree about opinion just like that was mine and we can debate it, but to be negative i feel is not a responce I like, maybe im just used to teaching the kids and looking at the positives. I agree also he wa slucking to get in in the first place and expected more but hopefully now he can go on and do some good/great things.

RoboRat

Remember that TUF isn't the be all and end all of a fighter.

Frankie Edgar can vouch for that.

My opinion is that I think Chris is a very talented fighter but I just feel he doesn't seem to have the confidence in his ground game, this is a shame as I know he has a decent ground game and seen him darce choke Redmond. I can't put my finger on it but it just seems like he sometimes fights in low motion. He has brilliant striking but to go up the next level he needs to work on his wrestling and controlling an opponent.

Stuxnet

Well at least DW has acknowledged the fact

Dana White on ‘The Ultimate Fighter 19’: It’s ‘without a doubt the worst season’

VANCOUVER – Despite repeated advertisements on FOX Sports 1 stating “critics agree it’s the best season yet,” UFC President Dana White is not all that pleased with the current installment of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show.

“It was without a doubt the worst season and the least motivated the fighters have ever been,” White told MMAjunkie. “But I can say this, at least the fights pick up at the end.”

Currently in its 19th domestic season, “TUF” has become a stale, cookie-cutter product in the eyes of many viewers. Even with former champions B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar at the helm as coaches, “TUF 19” ratings are among the worst in the series’ nine-year history.

While in-house drama or a coaches’ rivalry never hurts, the most important aspect of the show is how the fighters perform. Thus far those performances haven’t exactly been good, as nearly every fight this season has gone to a decision with several judging controversies mixed in.

That draws the ire of White, particularly because he sees such a large gap in passion and desire between the “TUF 19” cast and the fighters currently living in the house filming “TUF: Latin America.”

“Let me tell you the difference between that season and what’s going on with Mexico and Latin America right now,” White said. “Every day we’re in there, and I don’t want to miss any of these fights. These guys are so pumped to be living in that house and so excited to be fighting. It’s just crazy. … When I go to those fights, it’s fun. I feel like I’m at a fight I just paid $1,000 for my ticket.”

White isn’t one to sugarcoat his opinions. Even though “TUF 19” is still in its regular-season fun and has a few episodes remaining, he readily admits the season has been a dud. Yet, he still has high expectations for the four finalists, who will vie for a six-figure UFC contract at the TUF 19 Finale on July 6 in Las Vegas.

“You can’t blame the coaches, you can’t blame this or that; you blame the guys and how bad they really wanted it,” White said. “That’s just my opinion, but we’ll find out at the finale. We’ll see who shows up and what they do, and they better step it up because those guys are going to come into the UFC. Whoever wins that finale is going to the UFC.”

“TUF” seasons have produced mixed results. Some will see essentially every cast member weeded out of the promotion, as with “TUF 16.” Others, such as “TUF 14,” will provide legitimate world champions and title challengers like T.J. Dillashaw and John Dodson.

Unfortunately, this is season seems like it’ll be more of the former than the latter. White feels the same, and if it were up to him, no one outside the four finalists would even get a chance for official UFC debuts.

“You might not see one of those f—ing guys in the finale,” White said. “If it was up to me, no. I was not impressed.”

Source

JojoD51

I strongly dislike Dana, strongly.

unknown13

JojoD51 wrote: »

I strongly dislike Dana, strongly.

Like him or not, you can't deny what he has done for the sport. However, he does have a lot of flaws.

JojoD51

unknown13 wrote: »

Like him or not, you can't deny what he has done for the sport. However, he does have a lot of flaws.

Not sure there wasn't another Dana White out there waiting to do what he did, not taking away from his achievements but there were a lot of people before him. I feel like he is turning the sport into entertainment with blood. It's 'Mixed' martial arts and he hates on wrestling and clinching, does he not just want K1. Also he kind of has the type of face you just want to punch. I could go on, but prob on a different thread. Also he is very rich and majority of the fighters get f*ck all. Done.

MrStuffins

Dana has done a lot but I think the bigger the company gets, the less and less he knows the fighters personally and the more distant he tends to be. I think this then leads him to "shout inwards" and criticise fighters and fights whereas beforehand he was "shouting outwards" and defending them.

If Dana White doesn't like Wrestling or Grappling, then it's a mistake to work for an MMA company.

amkin25

I watched a fair few of the ultimate fighter seasons and this one had an irish interest which made it interesting for people here,but aside from that i don't think its anywhere near the worst,not even close to the worst there has been some bad ones.

Dana is clearly just creating drama for ratings here,the ratings have been falling,this is just Dana being the smart promoter,anything to create news and drama,thats what all the extra complaining about fighters doing nothing this season is about,just show and drama not real.

unknown13

MrStuffins wrote: »

Dana has done a lot but I think the bigger the company gets, the less and less he knows the fighters personally and the more distant he tends to be. I think this then leads him to "shout inwards" and criticise fighters and fights whereas beforehand he was "shouting outwards" and defending them.

If Dana White doesn't like Wrestling or Grappling, then it's a mistake to work for an MMA company.

His argument about over saturation is the worst. There is too many fights and they keep putting on more and more fights and making some cards very weak.

Even look at the forum here, when Lesnar fought the threads were huge and nearly hitting 1000 posts per event and up a week in advance.

Zero-Cool

unknown13 wrote: »

His argument about over saturation is the worst. There is too many fights and they keep putting on more and more fights and making some cards very weak.
.

There are 499 fighters signed to the ufc. 98 alone in lightweight. That is just mental!!!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_UFC_fighters

El Guapo!

The sheer amount of fighters on the roster and frequency of events is gonna be a real problem for the UFC. I genuinely think greed is gonna be their downfall. They just see no end to the success at the moment and I don't think they actually know where they're headed. They're just ploughing on and not stopping to re-evaluate.
I think they need to think about what happens when they reach saturation point. Where do they go from there?

They bulldozed through the mma world, took over most of their major competitors and almost instantly began to systematically shut them down; taking some fighters under the UFC banner and ditching the rest. Now the seams of the UFC roster are bulging and it's only a matter of time before they tear. As a result, they've diluted nearly every card to a point where regular die hard fans have lost interest in a lot of events.

I'm firmly of the opinion that they should've kept the WEC and Strikeforce in operation. They could've used Strikeforce as a feeder organisation into the UFC and kept the UFC as a kind of premiership where the cream of the crop ply their trade.

It's hard to criticise the UFC when they have done so much for the sport but I think somewhere along the line, they lost the run of themselves and were blinded by dollar signs. I think they need some new blood in the back room of the UFC to come up with new ideas and adjust the current UFC model of growth; not to slow it down but to redirect some of the momentum and explore different avenues to keep the die hard fans interested while also gaining, and holding on to new fans.

adamski8

Personally i love all the events. It all being in the same organisation really helps the fan know where a fighter stands etc. Whereas before id be dying to see a card as i hadnt seen a ufc in ages its now an event a week nearly. I like it! Although i frequently a week behind which is annoying as i like to follow mma news so have to avoid spoilers.

I would have stayed up all night before but now will watch a fight or two at various times and its actually more enjoyable and im not knackered the next day.

El Guapo!

adamski8 wrote: »

I would have stayed up all night before but now will watch a fight or two at various times and its actually more enjoyable and im not knackered the next day.

That was part of the fun though. You'd have to wait a few weeks for an event and in the run up to it, there's be primetimes, video logs, interviews etc. I know they still have all of that but it's all crammed into a shorter timeframe and it's a lot to take in.
In the past, there'd be loads of time to dissect the event fight by fight, and discuss it all in this forum before the event. Threads would go on for days beforehand and it'd all help to build the excitement.
Then, on the night of the event, this forum would be buzzing and there'd be loads of people, including myself, staying up till 6am and chatting about it round by round in here. It was fantastic. Now, there's rarely that excitement anymore and in some cases an event will come and go without even having it's own thread in here. A lot of that is due to over saturation by the UFC.

raze_them_all_

It's best described simply by the fact it's rare you get excited by a card, back in the day you were dying to see Chuck and tito get it on. Now it's just meh after meh for the most part

adamski8

Meh im not so much into the hype, just give me a good fight between two quality fighters and im happy. A lot of other sports are on way more frequently. Just look at nfl, nhl and mlb in the usa which im sure the ufc look up to with their million games a year.

raze_them_all_

adamski8 wrote: »

Meh im not so much into the hype, just give me a good fight between two quality fighters and im happy. A lot of other sports are on way more frequently. Just look at nfl, nhl and mlb in the usa which im sure the ufc look up to with their million games a year.

Nfl regular season is 16 games, superbowl makes it to 20, just so we're clear

adamski8

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

Nfl regular season is 16 games, superbowl makes it to 20, just so we're clear

Meant to write nba instead of nfl actually. Nfl is pretty weird but i guess college football seems bigger than it.

Davei141

I would never stay up as no event is worth wasting the next day in bed but i would wake up excited for a new event up and watch it sometimes with a few cans and make a day of it. Nowadays you chuck it on and get it over with. So many cards and so many injuries tying champions up (Whoever decided to put pettis on TUF should be shot) has really stagnated the UFC big time. Lightweight division has stagnated due to Pettis injury. Middleweight has stagnated due to Weidman injury. Welterweight is thriving though even with Hendricks injured. HW with Velasquez injured. Injured/injury prone champions aren't helping with the appeal of the sport at all. The UFC needs Diaz/GSP/Anderson etc back and the other champions fit and healthy.