TUF 14: Change is Good
Change is good, unless that’s all you’ve got in your pockets. TUF’s new look---the initial episode held in the Mandalay Bay Events Center rather than the UFC training facility; the unlit surroundings, which made it easier on the eyes to watch; being able to hear the critiques of Dana White and the two coaches, Mayhem Miller and Michael Bisping; energetic, buzz-saw featherweights and bantamweights competing; $25,000 prizes for KO, submission and best fight of TUF 14, as voted by the fans---could have come earlier, but bode well for the successful reality show.
This is an extremely talented pool of fighters vying for a spot with coach Mayhem or coach Bisping. The coaches couldn’t have been more understated considering their reputation for being knobs. Bisping did manage a few uncalled for barbs, including saying one of the fighters looked like a cross between Josh Koscheck and a toilet brush, which is redundant to me. At any rate, the proceedings were rather amiable.
A few fights stood out for me: Carson Beebe, brother of former WEC 135 lb champ Chase Beebe, was guillotine-choked by Johnny Bedford in dramatic fashion. Scotland’s Paul McVeigh’s strong Muay Thai looked to hold the day against green-haired Louis Gaudinot, but Gaudinot’s wresting and toughness kept him going, till he landed a back elbow in the tie-breaker round, something I’d never seen before. Anderson Silva once landed a similarly spectacular up elbow against Tony Frykland back in 2006 (watch it on YouTube if you haven’t already).
Veteran Micah Miller (17-4) seemed to be a ringer a la Matt Danzig from season 6, except someone forgot to tell Steven Siler, who Tazmanian-deviled out of his corner and eventually won via guillotine. TJ Dillashaw beat a game Matt Jaggers at rounds end after looking gassed and stunned himself, with a series of well-timed elbows, thrown off-balance no less, at a downed Jaggers. Hamid Corasasani v Brian Pearman was to me the best fight, with Pearman taking unbelievable shots, till one finally dropped him. It was unfortunate that Pearman didn’t make it into the house, but he has the potential to get back in the octagon on his own steam.
Overall, it couldn’t have been a more impressive start to season 14. The featherweights and bantamweights always have tremendous energy, and none of these fighters looked raw at all. Mayhem and Bisping seem like a good coaching match up. Mayhem can sell anything, but mostly I look forward to him butting heads, brains and yaps with the Brit, who is nothing if not insufferable.
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The only disappointing thing at all was the sheer shittiness of the tattoos sported by the fighters, which were so bad I began to think Belcher’s bloated shoulder tattoo of Johnny Cash wasn’t so bad after all. There just was no thought to the body art, like each and every one of them had bought packages of tattoos online and pasted them willy-nilly. But if that’s the only problem, that’s my problem.
It’ll be interesting to see what other changes the UFC has thought up for the rejuvenated TUF.
After past failures, I’ll resist predicting a winner from seeing merely the first round of fights. Suffice it to say, after watching Micah Miller go down, anyone in the house is able to take the prize.
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By Renko Styranka
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer
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