TUF 9 Episode 6 - Dollar Bills Y'all

This episode featured two fights, the first between lightweights Cameron Dollar and Martin Stapleton and the second between welterweights Frank Lester and James Wilks. The episode featured some surprises and irony.

The episode begins with Bisping explains his absence during the Dean Amisinger v. Damarques Johnson fight. Apparently, Bisping has been dealing with jet lag and overslept. My question is why an alarm wasn't set or a coach banging on his hotel door. Bisping really let down Dean in that fight.

Before the fight with Stapleton, Dollar was again portrayed as an arrogant young guy, telling Dean how to escape from a triangle after his loss. Dollar then shows a more humble side, as he is very scared and nervous about fighting. His stand-up game is also suspect in training, as he routinely misses targets held by striking coach Cyrille Diabate.

Stapleton is portrayed as a battle hardened UK Marine with tremendous cardio. Bisping hypes him up, as does the team. Lester tells Dollar that while Stapes is a tough guy, tough guys have been beaten up before.

As the fight begins, the fighers circle and measure each other. As Stapleton comes forward and exchanges, Dollar nails him in the side of the head with a hook. From there, Stapleton was fazed and looked for a takedown. Dollar was able to get his back, took his time with strikes, then eventually got a rear naked choke. Dollar was humble in his victory, and with a good grappling game, may be a force in the tournament.

Before the second fight, shadow boxer Frank Lester is profiled. Frank is slightly crazy and liked by most of the team. Coach Dan Henderson attempts to clam him down, but Frank can't seem to contain his sudden hatred for Wilks. Wilks meanwhile is pretty calm, boasting a BJJ game and decent stand-up skills. Before the fight a $100 bounty is offered by Team USA for a Wilk's tooth.

The first round was an absolute war, with each fighter landing big shots. Frank is winding up his punches though, and eating too many knees and punches. As they clinch during the end of the round, Wilks nails Frank in the face with a knee. That knee knocked out the front fake teeth of Lester, which he lost as a young kid.

During the break, Henderson tries to pry the teach out of Lester's mouthguard but they don't come easy. After Bisping complains, Lester gets his mouthguard and is a totally different fighter. He drops his hands and has no energy left. Maybe too much shadow-boxing. Wilks takes advantage and brutalizes Lester before getting an armbar. Team UK now has a 3-2 on Team US.

(Cameron Dollar pictured)

Team USA Second Round- LW- Cameron Dollar, WW- Damarques Johnson
Team UK Second Round- LW- Andre Winner, WW's- Nick Osipczak, James Wilks

TUF 9 Debut - UK Edition

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 debut featured 16 fighters from the UK trying to make Team UK and earn a shot to Las Vegas. Every fighter seemed ready to brawl and was hungry to get that ticket. The fights were staged at the Wolfslair which is coach Michael Bisping's home gym.

It was kind of awkward throughout the 8 fights as Bisping had 3 fighters from his gym trying out and a few more that he knew personally. As such, some fighters got a little more coaching than others. Regardless, I enjoyed the episode and the raw feel of a cage and only a few spectators.

These guys seemed to be matched up well. The only slight favorite to go down was Che Mills, who got a tough draw in the more experienced James Wilks. I had Che as a 2-3 seed, and Wilks around 4-5. Team UK's advancing lightweights might have more talent than the welterweights.

Matches-

Andre Winner def Gary Kelly via KO(knee) R1- Andre Winner completely dominated the Wolfslair trained Gary Kelly. Kelly got stuck in a Thai clinch and ate a vicious knee to the face. Winner followed Kelly as he crumpled to the canvas and the bout was called. An oxygen mask was needed, but Kelly was ok.

Jeff Lawson def James Bryan via Sub(armbar) R1- Judo ace Jeff Lawson showed off some skills in his defeat of the younger James Bryan. Lawson executed a nice hip toss to get the fight to the ground, then went to work. After some posteuring, Lawson locked in an armbar to defeat Bryan.

James Wilks def Che Mills via Sub(kneebar) R1- Wilks ate some serious punishment from Mills until the fight went to the ground. Wilks leaned back and sunk in the kneebar with Mills responding too late. Wilks stated that he had been training in the US for the past few years.

Martin Stapleton def Dan James via Sub(rear naked choke) R1- Stapleton controlled the action standing, sneaking in punches on James. Once the bout got to the ground, all James could do was try to grab Stapleton's gloves before the rear naked choke was in. Stapleton, a military man, declared it the fight of his life.

Ross Pearson def A.J. Wenn via KO(punches) R2- Pearson and Wenn spent most of the first round in the clinch trading shots before Pearson snuck in two vicious standing knees to close out the round. With Wenn wobbled, Pearson smelled blood and attacked in the second round landing a left right combination followed by punches.

Nick Osipczak def Tommy Maguire via KO(knee) R1- Osipczak controlled the action from start to finish as Maguire seemed to run out of gas about three minutes in. From there, Osipczak threw a flurry of punches before a knee knocked out Maguire.

Dean Amasinger def Alex Reid via decision- Amasinger won by getting the fight to the ground. Reid attempted a number of triangles, but none were sunk deep enough.

David Faulkner def James Bateman via Sub(kneebar) R1- Bisping's training partner Faulkner went for a takedown early before getting in the clinch. After eating a little punishment, Faulkner got the takedown, rolling into a kneebar.

TEAM UK Welterweights - 170

James Wilks
Nick Osipczak
Dean Amasinger
David Faulkner

Team UK Lightweights - 155

Andre Winner
Jeff Lawson
Martin Stapleton
Ross Pearson


*By the looks of the next episode, it appears one of the potential Team USA fighters will have issues making weight.

TUF 9 Cast Revealed

TUF 9 will premier directly after the conclusion of Ultimate Fight Night 18. Spike TV has announced the first 32 participants in the 9th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The UK and US teams will each face 1st round elimination fights before making it into the house. Coaching Team USA will be Dan Henderson, with assistants Krzysztof Soszynski Vinny Magalhaes. Coaching Team UK will be Michael Bisping with Cyrille Diabate as a stand-up coach.

Team USA Welterweights:

Mark Miller (10-4)- Mark was a former member of the IFL's Chicago Red Bears. His career highlights have been a devastating KO of UFC fighter Josh Neer at IFL Chicago and a decision victory against UFC fighter Brad Blackburn. He is mainly a stand-up fighter with a solid Muay Thai game.

(Mark Miller KO's Josh Neer)

Kevin Knabjian (10-3) is a former Eastern Illinois wrestler who brings a four fight win streak into the tournament. He has wins over decent competition in TUF alum Josh Rafferty (9-6), Jacob Kuester (8-3), Mario Stapel (14-11) and Nino Marroquin (5-1). He has 6 KO's and 4 submissions on his record.

Jason Pierce fights out of Miletich Fighting Systems in Iowa. He has a (9-0) or (6-0) record depending on what database you look at. He has fought in the Extreme Challenge promotion with his biggest win over Luke Gwaltney (11-11).

Other US WW's: Ryan Biglar, Christian Fulgium, DaMarques Johnson, Kiel Reid and Ray Elbe (profiled in video below)

Team USA Lightweights:

Jason Dent (19-9) fought twice in the UFC, losing decisions to Gleison Tibau and Roger Huerta. The submission specialist has 14 submission victories on his resume with wins over Hawaiin veteran Kolo Koka (12-11), Harris Sarmiento (25-19) and team USA member Josh Souder (7-2).

(Jason Dent pictured)

Santino DeFranco (13-4) fought once in the IFL losing to Rafeal Dias. With 9 submissions on his resume, his big wins are against Melvin Guillard (21-7), Kevin English (11-7) and Jamal Perkins (9-3).

Richie Whitson (4-0) is an Alaskan fighter now fighting out of Team Quest with coach Dan Henderson. The striker has KO wins over Ray Cooper (14-9) and Schon Ellis (6-2).

Other US LW's Paul Bird, Cameron Dollar, Tom Hayden, Waylon Lowe and Josh Souder.

Team UK Welterweights:

Che Mills has a record of (7-2) or (6-1) depending on what database you look at. He has heavy hands and power in his punches. He has fought primarily in the Cage Rage promotion with big wins over Ross Mason (14-9), Marius Zaromskis (8-2) and Oriol Gaset (6-3).

James Wilks (5-2) trains out of Eric Paulson's gym in California. He has wins over Ray Lizama (7-5) and Roman Mitichyan (5-2).

(James Wilks pictured)

Nicholas Osipczak (3-0) trains out of Pancrase UK. None of his fights have gone out of the first round. His biggest win was over Brendan Flanagan (3-2).

Other UK WW's- Dean Amarasinghe, James Bateman, David Faulkner, Tommy Maguire and Alex Reid

Team UK Lightweights:

Andre Winner (9-2)- Winner was (8-1) before his last two fights where he drew against Abdul Mohamed (16-6) and lost a majority decision to Bendy Casimir (17-5). He has notable victories over Mario Stapel (14-11), teammate Jeff Lawson (13-2) and Daniel Thomas (9-6).

Jeff Lawson (13-2) is probably the frontrunner in the LW division with 11 submission victories on his resume. After a loss to teammate Andre Winner in 06', he has pulled off 10 straight wins. His big wins have come against Greg Loughran (18-11) and Joakim Engberg (4-3). He has crushed alot of cans in his young career. The judo blackbelt was a member of the British national judo team.

(Jeff Lawson pictured)

Ross Pearson has an (8-4) or (9-3) record depending on the database you look at. He is the Strike & Submit British LW Champ and Ultimate Force LW Champ. In his last fight he beat Ian Jones (6-5) via submission.

Martin Stapleton (5-1) is primarily a Muay Thai fighter with solid kicks. He hasn't beaten a fighter with an above 500 record, with his biggest win over Martin Begley (5-9)

Other UK LW's- James Bryan, Dan James, Gary Kelly and A.J. Wenn