Fight Game Blog

We’ll have the results as they happen tonight.

On our website poll, Georges St. Pierre was pegged to win at a 59%-41% margin.

1. Melvin Guillard vs. Rich Clementi

Guillard flipped off Clementi after getting inside the cage.

Guillard tried to land the big punches, while Clementi was using the inside leg kick. Clementi caught Guillard and took him down, getting his back, but Guillard got up and landed some big right hands. Guillard took him down but Clementi rolled over and got Guillard’s back and got him in a body triangle and then a rear naked choke and Guillard tapped. Clementi then gave him a DX crotch chop and Guillard tried to go after him.

Winner: Rich Clementi by way of first round submission.

2. Lyoto Machida vs. Sokoudjou

Machida controlled him on the ground for more than half the round. Sokoudjou did score with a few punches and got two takedowns, but Machida wins the round simply for controlling most of the round.

Machida dropped Sokoudjou with a straight left hand. Machida spent the rest of the round going for an arm triangle and finally got it and Sokoudjou tapped.

Winner: Lyoto Machida by way of second round submission.

3. Eddie Sanchez vs. Soa Palelei

Sanchez is landing more punches, but Palelei was able to out muscle him in the clinch. Sanchez landed a nice uppercut to end the round.

In the second, Palelei lands one big punch, but the rest of the round was simply Sanchez landing punches on Palelei’s face. Both guys are tired, but Palelei more so.

Sanchez continued to land punches and Palelei couldn’t do anything. The referee ended the fight as Sanchez threw an uppercut that moved Palelei’s nose about an inch north.

Winner: Eddie Sanchez by way of third round TKO.

4. Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva

The first round wasn’t as advertised, but close to it. Liddell was the one stalking Silva and Silva was the counterpuncher. They had a great trade for about 15 seconds up against the cage. Silva is taking a punch, in order to throw a punch, and so far, Liddell’s reach advantage is huge.

The second half of the second round might be the greatest striking battle I’ve ever seen. Liddell opened up Silva, but Silva withstood everything. Liddell buckled him twice and Silva kept coming. Near the end of the round, Liddell looked to have him, but got tired and went for the takedown. Simply awesome.

Liddell hit Silva with everything he had and Silva took it all. Silva was wobbly for most of the round, but he kept fighting back. Liddell tired himself out and used the last part of the round to stay away from Silva and even took him down at the end of the round. This was a great fight and was all it was cracked up to be.

Winner: Chuck Liddell by way of unanimous decision.

5. Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre

St. Pierre pretty much pulled a Matt Hughes on Matt Hughes. He took Hughes down and ground and pounded him until the end of the round. Easily, St. Pierre’s round.

St. Pierre outwrestled Hughes again. He took him down twice including one judo trip that lead to him being arm barred for the submission.

Winner: Georges St. Pierre by second round submission.

They’re going to show Manny Gamburyan vs. Nate Mohr from earlier in the night.

6. Manny Gamburyan vs. Nate Mohr

Gamburyan gets a takedown and puts Mohr in an ankle lock for the submission. That was quick and Mohr was in pain.

Winner: Manny Gamburyan by way of first round submission.

Labels: Chuck Liddell, Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, ufc 79, Wanderlei Silva

We have a poll on the home page. Vote on who you think will win the 12/29 rubber match between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Click here to vote (it’s underneath the calendar).

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and his manager are being sued by a Florida-based management and promotion company.

- Chuck Liddell says that he never considered retirement after his loss to Keith Jardine.

- ESPN.com has another story on Chuck’s chance for redemption.

- CBS Sportsline has their head to head preview up.

- Sam Caplan picks his year end award winners.

- GSP is confident, but not overconfident.

- Dave Meltzer looks at the top 10 matches of this weekend.

- UFC 79 is going to run head to head with the second half of the final game in the New England Patriots goal of a perfect regular season.

- The Yarennoka! card is set.

Talking Points

One of the two big UFC 79 matches is much easier to predict than the other. I simply think that Georges St. Pierre is too skilled and well rounded for Matt Hughes, and nothing that Hughes has done of late has shown me otherwise. Unless St. Pierre is lying to us, and he’s in fact not ready after a short training camp, he has the edge in nearly every facet of the game. He may even be a better wrestler, inside the cage, than Hughes is today. That one is hard to grasp, but it might be true. I see the fight lasting into the third round as Hughes tries to test St. Pierre and make him work a little harder than he did in their second fight, but I still see a similar result. I think St. Pierre will knock him out again, but this time in the third round.

Whenever I have to predict a Chuck Liddell fight, I have a hard time because I’ve been such a fan of his. But even looking at this in an unbiased way, the signs point towards him winning. Wanderlei Silva has lost his last two fights as well, but in both cases, he lost them in devastating fashion. He didn’t just lose, he lost badly. He took major beatings in both of his last losses to Mirko Cro Cop and Dan Henderson. In both of Chuck’s losses, he didn’t really take much punishment. Even in his knockout loss to Rampage, it was a punch that hit him right on the button and he was out. It was quick, and only really one solid punch that landed. I simply think that Silva has a better chance to get knocked loopy than Liddell does. What I hope is that both guys come out throwing, rather trying to be safe and not get caught. This fight has been a dream fight in the past for a reason and that reason is because both guys can throw bombs. I think that Silva will score early, but that Liddell will survive it all and finish him off in the second round.

If you want to contact me (I’d love to hear feedback), click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMA.Consumerhelpweb.com

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Labels: Chuck Liddell, Dave Meltzer, Georges St. Pierre, Keith Jardine, Matt Hamill, Quinton Jackson, ufc 79, Wanderlei Silva, Yarennoka

We have a poll on the home page. Vote on who you think will win the 12/29 rubber match between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Click here to vote (it’s underneath the calendar).

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his possible career change to MMA is one of the most talked about stories right now that doesn’t have to do with the major shows this weekend. We posted about it last weekend and Adam Swift goes pretty into it in depth as well.

Speaking of boxing (I know, it’s an MMA site), HBO is running a Boxing’s Best Of 2007 series featuring their top five fights of the year. It started last night and runs through Saturday. Here’s your tie in. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is featured in two bouts.

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Todd Martin writes about the history of the making of the Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell dream match.

- Dave Meltzer has a story on the legacy of Japanese MMA at the year’s end, as well as piece on the highest rated Japanese matches on New Year’s Eve. Lastly, he writes about part three of the Matt Hughes/Georges St. Pierre feud.

- One of the most highly anticipated fights from the Yarennoka show between JZ Calvan and Shin’ya Aoki is off.

- Sean Sherk and BJ Penn continue to trade barbs. Penn needs to build up his match with Joe “Daddy” Stevenson.

- Hughes’ autobiography is scheduled to come out next week.

Talking Points

It’s a pretty slow news day so we’ll end with this.

Matt Arroyo and Allen Berube are trying to get on The Amazing Race. Here’s their wacky video.

Team UFC would definitely be something, as long as no one hits Arroyo in the ribs.

If you want to contact me (I’d love to hear feedback), click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMA.Consumerhelpweb.com

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Labels: B.J. Penn, Chuck Liddell, Dave Meltzer, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Georges St. Pierre, HBO, Joe Stevenson, Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, The Amazing Race, Wanderlei Silva, Yarennoka

According to ESPN.com, Floyd Mayweather is talking to Mark Cuban about fighting for Cuban’s HDNet Fights.

This doesn’t really make sense for a couple reasons. For one, Floyd Mayweather is the most talented boxer in the world. It would make zero sense for him to want to get put in an arm bar or a knee bar. I don’t think he has an amateur wrestling background because he started boxing young, so he’d be at least 2-3 years behind even being good at what makes up MMA today. Also, Mayweather is all about the money. While Cuban has money, there’s no way that a fight under his company would be able to come close to generating the amount of money that a fight under HBO Boxing would. Mayweather would probably fight in the lightweight division and who is the biggest name at that weight? Sean Sherk? B.J. Penn? Now let’s counter those names to Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. They are nowhere in the stratosphere as far as name value. And in order to make money in MMA, you have to be able to create a fight that the public wants to see. A Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Sean Sherk MMA fight wouldn’t do half the buys that his fight with Oscar De La Hoya did.

It would make more sense for Mayweather Jr. to put his name in the hat with Cuban when it comes to the business side of things. But it doesn’t make sense for him to even think about fighting.

Labels: Floyd Mayweather Jr., HDNet Fights, Mark Cuban

We have a poll on the home page. Vote on who you think will win the 12/29 rubber match between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Click here to vote (it’s underneath the calendar).

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Michael Bisping is dropping down to middleweight and is fighting Charles McCarthy, who is best known for being on the 4th season of The Ultimate Fighter.

- Wanderlei Silva predicts victory in his upcoming battle against Chuck Liddell.

- Chuck Liddell can’t wait.

- A die-hard boxing fan takes a look at the MMA scene.

- The UFC says no to M-1.

- UFC 80 is set, but the card isn’t all that spectacular.

- EXC is to be involved in the proposed Ken Shamrock/Frank Shamrock brother vs. brother fight.

Talking Points

I finally watched the CNBC documentary Ultimate Fighting: From Blood Sport to Big Time and thought it was for the most part, well put together. I thought Scott Wapner did his homework and asked the proper questions. The most telling part of the documentary was when he tried to ask Randy Couture questions about his departure from the UFC. Whenever you see Couture, he seems to be very genuine and likable. Here, he seemed like he simply didn’t want to talk to the host and was hurt from what had happened. It very much seems that he felt like he had to leave the UFC, versus wanting to leave the UFC.

I loved the old footage and the information about how the early UFC was really a platform for Gracie jiu-jitsu. The only segment I really didn’t like was the one about Tapout. I felt that it was a throwaway segment about what is essentially a clothing company. I understand that they were trying to show how die hard MMA fans really are, but it really slowed down the piece and I couldn’t wait for the segment to be over.

After it was over, I was also left with the idea that the UFC needs to market some of their fighters better. It seems like at every opportunity, Rich Franklin is used to show that smart, common men can fight in the UFC. But because of the global ethnicities, some of the best fighters like Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre aren’t used in pieces like this. I would’ve loved to see Quinton “Rampage” Jackson used on this kind of show as I think he’s very entertaining and enjoyable to watch. You can only use Rich Franklin for so long.

Dana White came off well as this guy who loves his job so much that he’d rather work 24 hours a day than sleep. I’m not sure how he came across to the non-fight fan, but I love to see people who passionately enjoy their jobs. They come across as hard workers and those you want working with the product you enjoy.

It is still showing on the network and you can check out their schedule to find future viewing times.

If you want to contact me (I’d love to hear feedback), click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMA.Consumerhelpweb.com

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Labels: Chuck Liddell, CNBC, Dana White, EXC, Frank Shamrock, Ken Shamrock, M-1, Michael Bisping, Quinton Jackson, Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, UFC 80, Wanderlei Silva

We have the recap on the site of WEC 31, which featured Jens Pulver’s first WEC fight and Urijah Faber’s title defense.

We have a poll on the home page. Vote on who you think will win the 12/29 rubber match between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Click here to vote (it’s underneath the calendar).

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Supposedly, Mayweather vs. Hatton didn’t do as well as predicted.

- Todd Martin talks about the possible Faber vs. Pulver fight, as well as the rest of WEC 31.

- Georges St. Pierre says he expected either Matt Hughes or Matt Serra to get hurt and stayed in shape.

- What were the payouts for the TUF Season 6 Finale?

- With the Mitchell Report in the news, Dave Meltzer looks at the drug issue in MMA.

- BJ Penn wants to win the lightweight title and then fight Matt Hughes for a third time.

- Frank Trigg and Mayhem Miller were victorious at HDNet Fights in Dallas.

- Ryan Gracie was found dead on Saturday, December 15th.

- Andrei Arlovski wants to fight for UFC in early 2008.

- Vitor Belfort wants Tito Ortiz.

- Pro Elite now owns Hawaiian based ICON Sport.

Talking Points

It was sad to hear about the passing of Ryan Gracie this past weekend. Apologies and condolences towards the Gracie family for their loss.

With The Ultimate Fighter over, there isn’t much of note going on until the big UFC 79 card. However, there is a lack of buzz for Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva. It was the fight Dana White has been trying to make for years, and outside of a Chuck Liddell appearance on the Dennis Miller talk show on the Versus Network, I haven’t really heard much about the fight. I know that the UFC goes for the heavy build on Spike TV about a week before the fight, but with a fight of this magnitude, you’d think it’d be a little different. As of now, it’s not.

If you want to contact me (I’d love to hear feedback), click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMA.Consumerhelpweb.com

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Labels: Andrei Arlovski, B.J. Penn, Chuck Liddell, Georges St. Pierre, Jens Pulver, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, The Ultimate Fighter Season 6, ufc 79, Urijah Faber, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, WEC

If you haven’t yet watched The Ultimate Fighter Season 6 Finale, make sure to check it out Friday night. Spike TV is re-running the show on Friday night. It’s the best free MMA show I’ve seen.

We have the full play by play recap on the site if you want to read it.

Also, and I know this isn’t MMA, but it relates to the big picture of MMA as a sport, and it’s always what it will be compared to, but I also did live play by play for the excellent Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton fight, on my personal blog.

Lastly, we have a poll on the home page. Vote on who you think will win the 12/29 rubber match between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Click here to vote (it’s underneath the calendar).

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- The TUF finale drew a 1.8 rating, which is the second lowest rating a finale has ever done, but it’s in the same ballpark as the others.

- Dave Meltzer says that Paulo Fihlo might be the best middleweight going.

- Cub Swanson thinks that Jens Pulver might’ve faked his injury.

- Sean Sherk was stripped of his lightweight belt for failing a steroid test, but Dana White says that he’s the number one contender.

- Sherk also thinks that BJ Penn is a punk. Penn also avoided jail time for an altercation from two years ago.

- Strikeforce announced that Bob Sapp is headlining their February show in Seattle.

- Rachelle Leah is featured in Complex magazine.

Talking Points

This Wednesday is the next WEC show which is a good opportunity to see Urijah Faber fight on television. He’s the WEC’s champ at 145 pounds, and is the face of the WEC. He faces Jeff Curran in a title defense. Also, Paulo Fihlo faces Chael Sonnen, who said that he ran with a picture of Fihlo in his shoe so he could step on his face. And for those who want to see a familiar face, Jens Pulver has his first WEC fight, taking on Cub Swanson.

I have enjoyed the WEC shows that I’ve been able to watch. It’s feels like UFC Jr., which I don’t see as a negative. It features smaller fighters and a smaller cage, which usually means faster and more exciting fights. Also, most of the guys are hungry, trying to make names for themselves, on the lesser known brand. These guys usually bring it.

MMAjunkie.com has a preview of the show.

If you want to contact me (I’d love to hear feedback), click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMA.Consumerhelpweb.com

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Labels: B.J. Penn, Bob Sapp, Dave Meltzer, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Jens Pulver, Paulo Filho, Rachelle Leah, Ricky Hatton, Sean Sherk, Strikeforce, The Ultimate Fighter Season 6, Urijah Faber

After just watching Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Mayweather won by knockout in the 10th), I’m ready to see more great fighting tonight.

Two questions should be answered tonight.

1. Is Roger Huerta the real deal?
2. Can Tommy Speer go with Mac Danzig?

The first fight tonight is a rematch of the best fight of the season between Dan Barrera and Ben Saunders.

Barrera tried hard to get a takedown, but Saunders was able to get high on his back and try for an arm bar. He tried to roll through, but Barrera ended up on top and the round ended there.

Barrera finally gets the takedown and ends up on top again. He’s not doing much. They get stood up and Saunders misses a huge knee. Barrera’s on top again until they get stood up and Saunders threw a high kick that landed. Best shot of the night.

Saunders controlled the entire round. He even had a figure four leg lock around Barrera’s midsection. Very easy win for Saunders, but also a very boring fight.

Winner: Ben Saunders by way of unanimous decision.

George Sotiropoulous vs. Billy Miles is next.

Miles comes out quickly with punches and shoots in, but Sotiropoulous gets a guillotine in and stuffs the takedown. He gets Miles’ back trying to set him up for the choke. He finally gets it and Miles taps.

Winner: George Sotiropoulous by way of first round submission.

Richie Hightower fights Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz next.

They are both throwing big out of the gate. Both guys are swinging hard. Rude Boy throws a huge right that buckles Hightower. Hightower is throwing nice shots as well, but Rude Boy’s shots are cleaner and harder. Rude Boy throws a left that knocks Hightower down and he follows it up and the referee stops the fight.

Winner: Troy Mandaloniz by way of first round TKO.

It’s War Machine (Jon Koppenhaver) vs. J-Rock (Jared Rollins) next.

J-Rock takes him down right away. War Machine gets in the butterfly guard, kicks J-Rock off, and then takes J-Rock down. Both guys are working hard from their positions. J-Rock is throwing elbows from the bottom. These guys are having an elbowing contest. J-Rock is busted wide open.

It’s the exact opposite of the first round. This time J-Rock is on top and throwing bombs. Both guys are bloody. J-Rock goes for a rear naked, but doesn’t get so just keeps throwing from the top. War Machine gets saved by the bell.

J-Rock shoots, but War Machine ends up on top. They get stood up and J-Rock starts rattling him with punches. War Machine is almost out, but he switches position on starts hammering J-Rock from the top and J-Rock goes out. Crazy, crazy fight.

Winner: Jon Koppenhaver by way of third round TKO.

The finals of the show are next. Tommy Speer vs. Mac Danzig. Danzig is much smaller, but looks like he’s in great shape.

It’s all Danzig. Speer tries for the takedown, but Danzig fights it, and then gets a single leg takedown of his own. He gets in the mount and starts hammering Speer. Speer turns over, giving up his back, and Danzig chokes him out.

Winner: Mac Danzig by way of first round submission.

With a lot of time left, they’re showing Matt Arroyo vs. John Kolsci from earlier in the show.

The story of the round was that Arroyo was putting on submissions, and Kolosci was getting out of them, until Arroyo put him in an arm bar and he finally tapped.

Winner: Matt Arroyo by way of first round submission.

Main event time. Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida.

Very close first round. Guida was very active, getting takedowns and staying busy on the ground. Huerta hit a big leg kick and also was very active on the ground. Probably Guida’s round, but it was an excellent one.

Guida’s wrestling controlled the action, until Huerta started to rock Guida. As Guida went for the takedown, Huerta dropped to his knees to stuff it and Guida rocked him with a right hand. Huerta looked out. But he hung on and he was trading with Guida from the bottom position. Great round, but clearly Guida’s.

They announced that Forrest Griffin would be one of the coaches for a revamped The Ultimate Fighter show, which airs in April. And they also said that the other coach will be announced at tomorrow night’s Video Game Awards. The money is on Rampage Jackson.

This was a really good show and if you didn’t see it, catch the replay. You had a wicked brawl between War Machine and J-Rock. You had a fun one round slugfest between Richie Hightower and Rude Boy. Mac Danzig looked great on the big stage. And Roger Huerta wins an amazing fight to cap the night off. That Clay Guida is insane.

Labels: Clay Guida, Mac Danzig, Roger Huerta, The Ultimate Fighter, The Ultimate Fighter Season 6, TUF

News and notes from around the MMA world …

We have a poll on the home page. Vote on who you think will win the 12/29 rubber match between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Click here to vote (it’s underneath the calendar).

- Todd Martin has part two on his reflection with Dana White.

- CBS Sportsline predicts the winners for tomorrow night’s TUF finale.

- Dave Meltzer profiles Clay Guida vs. Roger Huerta.

- ESPN’s Page 2 has a long piece on Huerta as well.

- Kevin Iole discusses Mac Danzig vs. Tommy Speer.

- Big John McCarthy is going to retire after refereeing his final match on Saturday.

- Matt Hughes’ book is scheduled to come out right after the New Year.

- Rich Franklin signs a new deal and has prospects for an upcoming match.

- Mac Danzig wants to drop down to lightweight after the TUF finale.

- Is Matt Hughes a tough coach? (Should that’ve been retorical?)

Talking Points

There are two big questions that will hopefully be answered tomorrow night at The Ultimate Fighter Season 6 Finale.

1. Is Roger Huerta the real deal?

I think that as long as Huerta doesn’t get dominated tomorrow night by Clay Guida, he’s going to come out looking strong. Guida is going to get a great fight out of him. As long as Huerta can keep pace, or at least come close to keeping pace with Guida, I think the fans are going to have more respect for him, win or lose, than ever. And he does have a strong chance to win. Guida has fallen short a couple times this year in close fights. He lost a close decision to Tyson Griffin in a match of the year candidate just recently. Because most of his fights go to decision, it leaves it in the hands of the judges, and if that’s the case, anyone can win. As long as Huerta doesn’t get knocked out, I think he’ll be able to prove that he’s the real deal.

2. Can Mac Danzig hold off Tommy Speer?

I’d like to think so. Speer definitely seems like he has a great upside. Now I sound like Mel Kuiper Jr. But really, he seems like he has all the tools, and just needs the training and knowledge to be a real deal in this sport. But in this type of fight, where the level of importance is higher, where you go from fighting in the gym to fighting in front of actual fans, where there is money on the line, I go with the experience and the guy who has actually fought with this heavy pressure before. Speer wasn’t expected to be where he’s at. But right out of the gate, Danzig was pegged as the winner. He pegged himself. He constantly said that he was the best guy in the house, and up until now, he’s proved it. He’s had the pressure all along.

I think Danzig will win the match, and probably for at least two rounds, it will be very competitive, but I think Danzig has more tricks and more ways to win. He also is comfortable with his boxing and will probably be able to avoid many of those heavy right hands and actually be able to counter them.

I think Guida and Huerta is almost too close to call, but I think it goes to a decision. I see Danzig outlasting Speer, probably stopping him in the third.

If you want to contact me (I’d love to hear feedback), click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMA.Consumerhelpweb.com

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Labels: Big John McCarthy, Clay Guida, Dana White, Dave Meltzer, Mac Danzig, Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Roger Huerta, The Ultimate Fighter, The Ultimate Fighter Season 6, Tommy Speer

Mac Danzig is now in the semi-finals after beating John Kolosci pretty decisively. The show starts with a recap of the fight and Danzig is put over by the rest of the guys like a monster.

Kolosci says that when you win, it’s the highest of highs and when you lose, the lowest of lows. Kolosci looks like he was hit by a truck. His way of dealing with it was to get drunk. He and War Machine decided to throw the foosball table into the pool. What is it with drunk people and trying to throw things in the pool? He then decided to ram his head into a tree. That kind of behavior sure does show fighters in a great light.

Richie Hightower and Matt Aroyo don’t want to train with Matt Hughes. Dana White says he can’t make them, but Hughes will still corner them. Serra tells Troy Mandaloniz that he doesn’t want to corner against his own fighter. He can’t give instructions on how to beat one of his own guys. Mandaloniz sees it as him possibly being by himself, since Hughes will definitely corner his opponent.

Arroyo says he’s better than Mandaloniz on the ground. Mandaloniz says that he thinks that Serra might want Arroyo and George Sotiropoulos to win because they are jui jitsu guys, rather than him and Hightower.

Danzig says he wishes Hightower trained with them because he wanted to spar with him and beat him up a bit. Hughes says it’s their loss. Hughes says that he finds it unprofessional for Serra to not corner against his own guys.

White gathers all the guys together and takes them to the Red Rock bowling alley. White says that this is the coach’s challenge and the winner of the bowling game between Serra and Hughes takes the $10,000 prize, and wins his team $15,000. White says Hughes should know how to bowl because he lives in Illinois, and what else would he do other than bowl? Chicago is in Illinois and it’s one of the best cities in America. Hughes tries to get the team money doubled and White says that if Hughes can throw a strike on the next practice throw, that he’ll do just that. And you know he did just that.

White thinks that Hughes goldbricked him and is really a good bowler. Serra’s first ball is right in the gutter. He knocks down 9 pins with his second throw. White says that Serra throws the ball very slowly, and Hughes throws it extremely hard. Arroyo starts to give Serra some pointers and Serra starts bowling better. Serra needs a strike or a spare to win the match in the 10th frame. He gets 9 pins on the first throw and picks up the spare on the second throw, winning the money for him, and his team. Hughes left the scene and says that he just hates losing. Serra says when he beats Hughes’ ass in the cage, he’ll be upset about that too.

On the night before the fight, Hightower and Mandaloniz don’t show up for training. Sotiropoulos tells Serra that it’s because Mandaloniz thinks Serra is playing favorites.

Arroyo says if he makes one mistake, he could end up knocked out. War Machine, Dorian Price, and Kolosci are going to corner Mandaloniz. Arroyo is taller by about three inches and has the reach advantage.

Round One

Arroyo hits a high kick that he’s not able to snap, but it still connects. He then takes him down and is immediately in side control. He grabs and arm bar and taps him out. That was fast.

Winner: Matt Arroyo by first round submission.

Hughes says that Serra could’ve helped Mandaloniz since he’s a ground specialist. White says that how Mandaloniz could be a friend of B.J. Penn and have zero ground game is beyond him. Serra says he was happy for Arroyo but was really upset for Mandaloniz. Mandaloniz says that Serra is a great guy and he’s not upset at him.

We’re going to have a second fight. It’s Sotiropoulos versus Hightower. Serra puts Sotiropoulos over big. Hightower thinks he was put with Sotiropoulos to give Sotiropoulos an easy win. He says they are sadly mistaken. Serra says Hightower is a positive guy and will fight it like he has nothing to lose. He calls him a sleeper. Even with the build up, this has all the makings of a quick win for Sotiropoulos.

Hughes tells Hightower that he’s fighting for himself and only himself. Hightower shaved his head for the fight, which isn’t a better look, but at least he doesn’t have pink hair. Sotiropoulos has a small reach and height advantage.

Round One

Hightower looks very awkward in there. Sotiropoulos gets him up against the fence, but Hightower fights out of it. Hightower lands a right hand, but it doesn’t connect fully. Hightower throws a weak kick and Sotiropoulos catches his leg and takes him down. He’s in Hightower’s half guard and eventually gets into side control. Sotiropoulos is trying to set up a kimura. He mounts him in the reverse position and gets him in a kimura and all Hightower does is scream. Herb Dean stops the fight.

Winner: George Sotiropoulos by way of first round submission.

Hightower tells Sotiropoulos that his confidence is boosted because he fought such a good fighter and says he believes he’s a UFC fighter.

Next week: The last quarterfinals fight is between Ben Saunders and Tommy Speer. Also, it looks like Team Serra plays a prank that goes way out of control and J-Rock and War Machine get into it.

Labels: The Ultimate Fighter, The Ultimate Fighter Season 6, TUF