What The TUF 9 Finale Taught Us
by Kelvin Hunt on Jun 22, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintThe TUF 9 Finale didn't produce anything ground breaking, although there were some really good scraps on the card. Both Diego Sanchez/Clay Guida and Chris Lytle/Kevin Burns were pretty exciting fights. However, here's what I learned(or got further confirmation on) from the TUF 9 Finale:
-Diego Sanchez needs to fight Gray Maynard for the #1 contender to the winner of Florian/Penn
-Nate Diaz needs a whole new overhaul to his fighting strategy. He has all kinds of reach advantages and will not let his hands go...and has no take down defense. This is the second fight in a row where he's been beaten with the same game plan by his opponents. Hopefully he'll learn from this and come back stronger, or make the drop to the 145 pound division.
-Clay Guida and a lot of other people put too much stock in his 'energy' during/after his fights. If you look past the wild hair and the occasional take down, he never really does anything to try and finish his opponents. Also, he's no where near ready for a title shot(but we already knew that).
-Chris Lytle is a guy the UFC can call and say, "Hey, we need an exciting fight on the televised portion of this card" and it's a wrap.
-Joe Stevenson will live to fight another day in the UFC.
-Some MMA judges just need to give up, or educate themselves on the sport
-The TUF Finale and/or Ultimate Fight Nights could help the UFC promote future match ups if they used the shows for that advantage(i.e. Sanchez fighting the winner of Florian/Penn) as they mentioned it a couple of times on the show.
What else could we take away from the TUF 9 Finale?
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“-The TUF Finale and/or Ultimate Fight Nights could help the UFC promote future match ups if they used the shows for that advantage(i.e. Sanchez fighting the winner of Florian/Penn) as they mentioned it a couple of times on the show.”
^This. Plus, to me the show validated the continuing use of The Ultimate Fighter as a vehicle to introduce new talent to Zuffa’s target audience. I know that some hardcore fans get weary of the TUF format (as do I sometimes). But keep in mind that audiences need to “care” about the fighters they see competing on television and pay-per-view, even the undercard fighters.
I’d disagree with Nate dropping – like I’ve said before, I think he needs to go UP a weight class.
What the TUF finale taught me was that we’ve seen elite wrestlers cross over, we’ve seen elite BJJ players cross over, but we’ve still to see the best strikers cross over…
We learned that Joe Stevenson under the tutelage of Greg Jackson can be a fucking hazard at LW – especially considering that he’s only 27 years old.
Bloody hell.
nate diaz looked huge at 155. i dont think he can make 145. joe looks closer to a featherweight than him. he even looks a little soft around the belly. its nice to see that he remembered his strength is wrestling though instead of crappy boxing.
diego is the only guy who could make maynard exciting. plus its a good style matchup.
lytle, aaron riley, ronald jhun…they all have a place in the sport. wed be way worse off without them.
the tuf guys looked….uh…not too great. that one guy that demarcus johnson lost too looked kinda good. god its funny that the ufc has to keep jason dent around LOL
I totally agree, the TUF series and UFN shows are a perfect way to promote fighters / future fights and get them known to casual fans. Would love to see Diaz / Maynard next.
Just gotta say a massive well done to the team UK lads – I’ll admit some of their performances weren’t outstanding but to have had 3 out of 4 UK lads in the final is a massive step…..just goes to show how popular the sport is becoming over here! Difficult to suggest who the UFC should match Wilks & Pearson with next…..
I’ll say this about Nate Diaz. His talent as a fighter is obvious. A 6 foot tall lightweight can only make weight if he sheds/does not put on a lot of muscle. Hence, he’ll always be dominated by stronger wrestlers.
Instead, it would be wiser for him to beef up and little and take full advantage of that frame. A Nate Diaz with 10-15 added pounds of muscle would be a tough opponent for anyone. In conclusion he needs to move up in weight.
Next, Joe Daddy is only 27. It would have been a shame for the UFC to let him go. Going to Greg Jacksons was the best thing he could have done. No matter how good his standup gets, theres no way he’ll beat the BJs and Florians on the feet. He needs to revert back to his wrestling and jiujitsu and I’m glad thats exactly what he did against Nate.
Guida and his kind are bad for MMA. I shudder at the thought of imagining Guida as champion one day… all he needs to do is latch on to his opponent like a fuckin barnacle and he’ll probably end up winning the damn fight. How does one give points to a guy who hugs his opponent for three rounds and does zero damage? I never want to see him “fight” ever again to be honest.
and yeah… Lytle is a warrior. He should get his fight of the night bonus before hand really…
by cauliflower_ears on Jun 22, 2009 11:26 AM EDT reply actions
Oh Ok, I see what you guys are saying in terms of Diaz moving up in weight…valid point…
http://www.mmaforreal.com
Val
If not tonight…on tomorrow…thanks…you signed up for the new league yet?
http://www.mmaforreal.com
Joe Stevenson
I’m guilty of underrating Stevenson. Looking back on it, I shouldn’t have handicapped him so bad because of losses to BJ Penn and Kenny Florian. If Guida and Stevenson can sharpen their striking and Diaz can learn to wrestle and gameplan properly…the LW division is going to be competitive for a long time.
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