MMA Worldwide

The Ultimate Fighter 10 Premier

Posted by Deshalen Barber on the 16 September 2009 | View Comments

This Wednesday kicks of a series of action filled UFC events, two of which will be offered to the general public for free tonight on SpikeTV as build up to this weekend’s match up between Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort. The first to jump-start the week will be UFC’s “Fight Night 19:  Nate Diaz vs. Melvin GuilIard” at 8p.m. ET shortly followed by the season premier of TUF 10.

 

Arguably the most sought after UFC event of the week, the TUF show will open way to the much-anticipated return of Kimbo Slice. Dana White administered countless harsh, verbal attacks on Kimbo claiming he is “NO fighter” and “if he ever plans to fight in the UFC then he would have to go through the series in order to prove himself.” Well Mr. White, here he is!

 

The stage could not be positioned any better for the former backyard brawler, since he is heavily considered the “man” with an enormous bulls-eye on his back.

 

This animosity and unanimous opinion between the men was made very public by Brendan Schaub as he blurted out, “F*** you” during Kimbo’s separate but not equal introduction being given by White. His arrival also sparked excitement in Rampage as he continued shouting, “Kimbo is mine, don’ even look his way” before walking up to Kimbo and quietly letting him know, “You on my team. Don’t even worry about working out.”

 

In true Kimbo fashion, he eagerly responded, “I wanna thump!”

 

This is not the only plot/story brewing up, as this season plays host to coaches who are the complete polar opposites and constantly find themselves at odds with one another. Staged or not, the first several minutes of the premier is pure satire comedy. With Rashad and Rampage taking it back to the days of schoolyard antics in preparation of a good old slugfest. Both men continued to poke at one another on how the other was knocked out and if he is not careful the same would happen to him well after the trainees entered the room. So much so with the bantering, that White was forced to step out of his office and tell the men to pipe-it-down.

 

White’s return to the TUF series is also something that has been missing from several of the past seasons. With the UFC’s quick rise to mainstream light, White had to place the series on the shelf temporarily in order to tend to the globalization of his UFC brand. With a star-studded cast full of character, the UFC’s season 10 of TUF is going back to their roots of having White’s presence and commentary for the full six weeks of TUF boot camp.

 

For the first time, the cast will feature solely the heavies. This came as a huge shock to many middleweight potential contenders that successfully competed during the tryouts in Seattle this past fall, but, never before has there been an influx of quality big men able to challenge themselves at this skill level. These fighters range from one man making his professional debut, four former N.F.L. players, an ex IFL champ and even three UFC alum’s.

 

 

Here is the collective list of the fighters with a brief bio taken from the Sun online:

 

KIMBO SLICE: The YouTube phenomenon and former Elite XC headliner will be the main attraction in the new season. UFC president Dana White has continually derided the 35-year-old, claiming, “He would get killed in the UFC”. It will be interesting to see if he is proved right.

ROY NELSON: Boasting a 13-4 MMA record, the 32-year-old is a former Elite XC fighter who is perhaps best known for being knocked out by Andrei Arlovski last October.

WES SIMS: Formerly on the UFC roster, the 29-year-old was cut after just one year in the promotion in 2004 after losing three successive fights to Frank Mir (twice) and Mike Kyle.

MARCUS JONES: Former NFL defensive end for Tampa Bay Buccaneers between 1996 and 2002. Occasional guest on the popular American radio show Bubba the Love Sponge. Trained in MMA for just over two years.

MATT MITRIONE: Another ex-NFL player, debuted as a rookie in 2002 for Minnesota Vikings. Very little MMA experience but trains with highly regarded UFC heavyweight Jake O’Brien.

WES SHIVERS: NFL veteran and a late call-up to replace fellow pro-footballer Rex Richards. Very confident of winning the whole thing. Speaking last year, he bragged: “The only reason I have six fights now is because we have trouble finding opponents. One fight in particular, I had four opponents back out on me in a two-week period of time.”

JIM YORK: Nicknamed “Big”, York shares one thing in common with Kimbo – he too has beaten Britain’s James Thompson. The 33-year-old New Zealander emerged victorious from their Sengoku 7 clash after KO’ing the Englishman in the opening round of their bout in March.

JUSTIN WREN: At 22 years old, The Viking is the youngest contestant in the new series. He has a 6-1 MMA record and trains with UFC star Travis Lutter’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team.

MIKE WESSEL: The Ohio native has already fought in the UFC, losing to Antoni Hardonk via TKO at UFC 92 in the second round. However, it should be noted that Wessel only took that fight on a week’s notice, and UFC president Dana White was impressed enough to offer him a four-fight deal and place on season ten of TUF for his efforts.

SCOTT JUNK: Another fighter with previous UFC experience. The 30-year-old lost via heel hook in the opening round of his UFC 72 bout against Hungarian Christian Wellisch in September 2007.

ZAK JENSEN: Boasts a 7-3 MMA record and is noted for his strong wrestling ability. Has suffered defeats to fellow TUF alumni Brad Imes and Mike Whitehead.

DARRILL SCHOONOVER: An impressive 10-0 MMA record sets the big Texan apart from the rest of the cast. The 23-year-old is an early favourite to win the series and UFC contract.

BRENDAN SCHAUB: Has fought in MMA for over two years but little is known about his ability. A 4-0 record suggests he has raw skills but his lack of experience could count against him.

JON MADSEN: Part of legendary UFC welterweight Matt Hughes’ stable but only has one MMA fight to his name – a KO win over Cody Griffen earlier this month.

TOM BLACKLEDGE: British MMA enthusiasts may already be familiar with Blackledge – he fights out of the FIGHTSHOP sponsored Wolfslair in Widnes. He will be hoping to repeat the success of teammate Michael Bisping by winning TUF, but his 8-6 record suggests the odds may be against him.

ABE WAGNER: Big Nebraskan holds a 6-2 professional MMA record and could be the surprise package of this season.

 

Source for fighter line up:  http://www.thesun.co.uk