Sunday, 23 January 2011
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HYDEN BLOG: Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos Make For Very Interesting Picks as Coaches on TUF
By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
I'm very hopeful for a good season on The Ultimate Fighter 13. I think it's a little odd that the two coaches are heavyweights while the fighters are welterweights, though. I suppose coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos can still teach these guys good techniques, but I would have thought guys closer to that weight would have been a better choice.
However, I'm sure that the UFC would prefer to have good fights on this season, and there's not a lot of great heavyweights out there. I remember Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, and the fights weren't that great outside of a few standouts. Brendan Schaub's comes to mind right away, but there may have been more.
I'm certain that Dos Santos will be a great coach. I'm sure he plans on bringing in a lot of great coaches to help him and they'll probably stress technique. But I'm most interested in seeing what kind of coaching style Lesnar uses. How is he going to relate to his guys, and how will they react to him? Brock seems like a guy who won't put up with a lot of crap, and there's always a few guys in the house who seem to be there primarily for the drama, so it should be fun to see how Brock responds to them.
One thing I'm not looking forward to at all is the possibility of a manufactured rivalry between Lesnar and Dos Santos. I understand that they're fighting at UFC 131 and the winner gets to fight Cain Velasquez, I just hope that they're as real as possible. I know Dos Santos won't engage in trash talk, but Brock might. I'm fine with that as long as it's real. I just don't like manufactured garbage trash-talk.
I wasn't a fan of what Stefan Struve and Sean McCorkle did in the lead up to their UFC 124 fight. This is MMA, this is fighting, we don't need made-up rivalries. If you can't sell a fight based on your abilities, don't try to sell it with some fabricated trash-talk. I hate when two guys trash each other before the fight, then hug like old friends after the fight. I understand that you may respect each other, but don't insult our intelligence by pretending to hate each other pre-fight only to get all lovey-dovey post-fight. It's like the stupid jingle in those Wendy's commercials, "You know when it's real." I'm just not a fan of fake.
I don't know who any of the fighters are on this upcoming season, but with them being welterweights I expect some good fights. Yeah, there will be probably be a few stinkers, there always are, but I'm hoping the good outweighs the bad. We'll see when the new season begins. I know it's a ways off, but The Ultimate Fighter is by far my favorite reality show. There aren't a lot of true reality shows out there, and the Ultimate Fighter is about as real as you can get. Yeah, there's obvious moments where people aren't being truly real, but generally speaking, that's what the show provides.
I'm hoping Season 13 is among the better seasons in show history. There's been some really good seasons and some really bad ones, and I'm hopeful this season brings more good than bad.
Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.comSource: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/hydenstake/article_8194.shtml
Sara Spraker Sarah Gellman Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Mutch Sarah Polley
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HYDEN BLOG: Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos Make For Very Interesting Picks as Coaches on TUF
By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
I'm very hopeful for a good season on The Ultimate Fighter 13. I think it's a little odd that the two coaches are heavyweights while the fighters are welterweights, though. I suppose coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos can still teach these guys good techniques, but I would have thought guys closer to that weight would have been a better choice.
However, I'm sure that the UFC would prefer to have good fights on this season, and there's not a lot of great heavyweights out there. I remember Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, and the fights weren't that great outside of a few standouts. Brendan Schaub's comes to mind right away, but there may have been more.
I'm certain that Dos Santos will be a great coach. I'm sure he plans on bringing in a lot of great coaches to help him and they'll probably stress technique. But I'm most interested in seeing what kind of coaching style Lesnar uses. How is he going to relate to his guys, and how will they react to him? Brock seems like a guy who won't put up with a lot of crap, and there's always a few guys in the house who seem to be there primarily for the drama, so it should be fun to see how Brock responds to them.
One thing I'm not looking forward to at all is the possibility of a manufactured rivalry between Lesnar and Dos Santos. I understand that they're fighting at UFC 131 and the winner gets to fight Cain Velasquez, I just hope that they're as real as possible. I know Dos Santos won't engage in trash talk, but Brock might. I'm fine with that as long as it's real. I just don't like manufactured garbage trash-talk.
I wasn't a fan of what Stefan Struve and Sean McCorkle did in the lead up to their UFC 124 fight. This is MMA, this is fighting, we don't need made-up rivalries. If you can't sell a fight based on your abilities, don't try to sell it with some fabricated trash-talk. I hate when two guys trash each other before the fight, then hug like old friends after the fight. I understand that you may respect each other, but don't insult our intelligence by pretending to hate each other pre-fight only to get all lovey-dovey post-fight. It's like the stupid jingle in those Wendy's commercials, "You know when it's real." I'm just not a fan of fake.
I don't know who any of the fighters are on this upcoming season, but with them being welterweights I expect some good fights. Yeah, there will be probably be a few stinkers, there always are, but I'm hoping the good outweighs the bad. We'll see when the new season begins. I know it's a ways off, but The Ultimate Fighter is by far my favorite reality show. There aren't a lot of true reality shows out there, and the Ultimate Fighter is about as real as you can get. Yeah, there's obvious moments where people aren't being truly real, but generally speaking, that's what the show provides.
I'm hoping Season 13 is among the better seasons in show history. There's been some really good seasons and some really bad ones, and I'm hopeful this season brings more good than bad.
Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.comSource: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/hydenstake/article_8194.shtml
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Maturing Guillard doesn't want to blow opportunity at 'Fight for the Troops' card
Melvin Guillard speaks like a grizzled veteran. That's interesting coming from a dude who's still a few months short of 28. As he preps for his main-event fight at next weekend's Fight for the Troops card, Guillard is ready to launch himself into title contention after an up-and-down career with the UFC. "You know, there's a lot of things in my past that haunted me and kept me from being at the top, a lot of mistakes I've made. I grew as an adult. I grew as a fighter and I grew just having a new team and an environment of people that care for what I'm doing," said Guillard, who's been training for the last year or so with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque.
"And right now my mental focus right now is I will be a UFC Champion in 2011. I went undefeated in 2010 and I called that in the beginning of 2010. Right now my focus right now is my career and I want to elevate it to the next level."
Guillard (26-8, 9-4 UFC) is gifted in most aspects of mixed martial arts, but he's struggled mentally at times inside and outside the Octagon.
"You know, I got caught up with drugs and just the negative people around me," Guillard said during the Fight for the Troops prefight teleconference (thanks to Spike for the transcript).
"And I think that’s what's big about what's going on in my life right now. I don’t have any negative people, no negative energy around me. I have a loving wife who supports me. She spends all her time in my training camps. You know, she gives up time from being in college to be here with me, you know."
Guillard says countless people have helped him over the years and he doesn't want to let them down.
"And, you know, the same with, you know, Dana and the UFC. You know, when Katrina hit, they came looking for me. Dana relocated me to Utah to live with Josh Burkman. You know, so many people has done so much for me and they believe in everything that I do and the skills that I have. I would be selfish not to take what people tell me and put it to use," said Guillard.
"So if I was out there still messing up and doing drugs and messing with the negative people, I'm letting down all the people that really believe in me including the fans. You know? There's so many fans out there now that love me so much that always loved me and I just felt I was being real selfish, you know, thinking of myself," said Guillard
Albuquerque and Team Jackson has brought needed structure to his life.
"I don’t do after parties anymore. I might go out and just hang out but I'm not doing after parties, getting drunk," Guillard said. "Like I'm really focused in right now on being a real champion and not only becoming a real champion but I want to hold that belt just as long as my teammate GSP has done it. You know, I want to have a legacy. I want to be a superstar and I want to be a legend in this sport but I'm just a fighter."
Guillard also knows he can go for broke. If he loses, he'll still have a job.
"Yes, I want to win it but the most important thing for me day to day and year to year is to make sure that I fight my butt off so that I don’t get cut because now, we can win fights and be a boring fight and you'll still lose your job," Guillard said.
"So, you know, I just stick to just going in there and give the crowd, especially my bosses -- you know what I mean? So, you know, and for fighters, it's easy for us to keep a job if some of the fighters would really pay attention. You know, we go in there and just leave it in the cage, win or lose. I've lost four fights in the UFC by submission and I've had Dana come to me and say, 'Kid, you were winning that fight. You just made a mistake.' You know what I mean?"
This is a huge opportunity. The promotion seems to be a big fan of Dunham. He lost his last fight against Sean Sherk due to a questionable decision. The UFC stood behind Dunham and threw right into a televised main event. Guillard is stepping in for the injured Kenny Florian.
If Dunham smokes Guillard, he may be in line for a title shot after the Frank Edgar-Gray Maynard-Anthony Pettis mix is sorted out. A huge finish by Guillard could change his career. It would be a nice chapter in what's been a pretty tumultuous story.
Abbie Cornish Adriana Lima Adrianne Curry Adrianne Palicki Aisha Tyler
