THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 10 REVIEW

This episode was surprisingly average, given that there two fights and a mind-boggingly awesome guest appearance. It's still one of the better ones of the season, I suppose.

AARON WILKINSON VS. KYLE WATSON

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 5 REVIEW

John Fitch, who actually appeared in the last episode, is recognized only this time around. He shares that attitude is the most important thing in fighting. It's much better to be an out of shape fighter who listens and has a great attitude, than the best athlete in the world who doesn't listen and has a bad attitude.

Back at the house, the annoying pranks continue. Alex Caceres places bleach in Nam Phan's fabric softener in order to prank Team Koscheck, but his teammate, Micheal Johnson, uses it first and gets seriously pissed off.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 9 REVIEW

This episode features two straight fights, and the first is between Jonathan Brookins and Sako Chivitchian.  Brookings previously won against Sako's close friend and fellow Armenian Sevak Magakian, via a very quickly executed Rear Naked Choke. It's up to Sako to prevent Brookins from ever using that technique against anyone  on his team again, as well as upholding his Armenian pride by avenging his friend's loss.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 4 REVIEW

Iron Mike sticks around and offers Team GSP some words of wisdom. He states that the smarter fighter always wins and that confidence is key, not only in fighting, but in any aspect of life.

Back at the house, Team Koscheck lets loose their sour grapes at Alex Caceres. Apparently, Caceres was yelling all sorts of profanities against Wilkinson during the fight and Team Koscheck took offense to that. Oookay. I honestly don't see anything wrong with that. Sure, yelling profanities against another person is a bad thing, but Caceres was essentially just cheering for his team in his own way. And now, just because they lost, Team Koscheck is looking for a scapegoat to vent their anger upon. And better yet, when Caceres gets annoyed at them for talking about him behind his back, Sevak goes into a mindless rage. Team Kosecheck definitely looks like it's being demonized, at least in this episode. Caceres just laughs it off, which is, oddly enough, the mature thing to do.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 3 REVIEW

As promised, Bruce Leroy grows too cocky because of his win against Jeff Lentz and goes off on a tirade of boasting. Pretty boring, though, as nothing really came of it. Back in training, GSP brings in Olympic silver medalist Gia Sissaouri to help train wrestling with his team. Koscheck, meanwhile, senses that his team might not be giving it their all and tells it to them straight.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 2 REVIEW

The fighters move into the house and one of them is quickly highlighted: Jeff Lentz, who lives a stereotypically unhealthy lifestyle despite being a professional fighter. He smokes all day and drinks all night, though still apparently works very well in training, with plenty of gas in the tank and strength in his muscles.

UFC 122 PREDICTIONS

MAIN CARD

1. Nate Marquardt vs. Yushin Okami - Marquardt
2. Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara - Sakara
3. Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner - Siver
4. Amir Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta - Sadollah
5. Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic - Soszynski


Agree or disagree? Share your thoughts and leave a comment below!

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 6: THE PRELIMS

COURT MCGEE VS. RYAN JENSEN

I've been a huge fan of Court McGee ever since The Ultimate Fighter 11. This is his first fight after the finale, and you can be sure that I was rooting for him all the way. He faces longtime veteran Ryan Jensen, who has been fighting professionally since 1997.

Jensen's experience shows early when he dominates McGee both standing up and on the ground. He drops McGee with a left early in the first round and controls him easily on the ground afterward. McGee recovers and begins exchanging bravely against the experienced veteran, though. He finds his rhythm and begins mixing up his punches with successful leg kicks, and keeps Jensen off balance.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 5: SCHAUB VS. GONZAGA

I've been a fan of Brendan Schaub ever since his days as a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10. He made it to the finals that season but lost against heavy favorite Roy "Big Country" Nelson. He's very much a newcomer to this sport, but has shown genuinely constant improvements every time he steps in the cage. His last two fights prior to this featured some very impressive first round knockouts. His opponent this time, though, Gabriel Gonzaga, is a former top contender who has knockout power in both hands and feet, and is one of the stronger fighters in the division. 

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 4: ORTIZ VS. HAMILL

TITO ORTIZ

Tito Ortiz really needs to win again in the UFC. The last time he won a match was back in 2006 when he beat Ken Shamrock. After that, he lost to Chuck Liddell for the second time in a row, got a draw against Rashad Evans, and lost to Lyoto Machida and then Forrest Griffin, then backed out in his much-hyped rematch against Chuck Liddell, which got him fired from The Ultimate Fighter (Rich Franklin replaced him in that match).

Tito Ortiz has a very established fan base since he was the UFC Light Heavyweight champion for two straight years, defended the belt five times in a row, has been in the sport for 13 years, and is one of the UFC's classic bad boys. I'm one of Tito's big fans, but honestly? If a fighter hasn't won a match in four straight years, your expectations of him kind of dwindle. Kind of really dwindle.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 3: SANCHEZ VS. THIAGO

Diego Sanchez is one of my favorite fighters in the UFC. From his time in The Ultimate Fighter 1, his odd personality and extreme aggression in the cage was, win or lose, always fun to behold. When he was thoroughly dominated by former Lightweight champion BJ Penn at UFC 107, however, something changed in  Diego, and it wasn't good. This was more than evident in his bout against John Hathaway at UFC 114. Diego looked clearly off his game and lacked his trademark aggressiveness. He lost via unanimous decision and the fighter who was previously known to, by far, have one of the toughest mental fortitudes in the organization seemed to have completely lost his edge. It seemed that BJ Penn took much more than a simple victory from Diego that night. 

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 2: SHIELDS VS. KAMPMANN

Jake Shields, former Strikeforce Middleweight champion riding a 15-fight win streak, has finally come to the UFC. Shields has been fighting professionally for over a decade now and is incredibly popular, but fans worldwide have always wondered how he would fare against the cream of the crop of the world's biggest MMA organization, the UFC? UFC 121 answered this question as Shields went up against the ever-dangerous well-rounded fighter Martin "The Hitman" Kampmann.

UFC 121 REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

Lesnar vs. Velasquez is a match that I've been looking forward to for a long, long time now. No offense to UFC 119 and 120. Those had potentially amazing main events and I was genuinely excited for them (though one of them did disappoint, unfortunately), but this one was more special. Not only was there a belt on the line, it was also another great chance to see Brock Lesnar in action, one of the most colorful characters in the UFC, who also has one of the more interesting careers, from gaining the belt at a very accelerated rate, to winning rather decisively against all his recent opponents, to even fight back death itself, Lesnar is always a fighter to look out for, and always justifies the hype (except for his first match against Frank Mir,that is).

UFC 119 PREDICTIONS

Cro Cop vs. Mir! Bader vs. Li'l Nog! Serra vs. Lytle: The Rematch! Plus the return of The Muscle Shark and The Young Assasin! A pretty amazing card, if you ask me.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MARQUARDT VS. PALHARES REVIEW PART 2: THE MAIN CARD

COLE MILLER VS. ROSS PEARSON

The first round was a classic stand up brawl, with Cole being the active one, mixing everything up rather well, but with Pearson showing the more refined striking abilities; picking his shots carefully and landing them with crisp precision. Both fighters' game plans were pretty clear late in the round: Pearson wanted to set up Cole for a solid knockout punch, and Cole wanted to get Pearson to the ground and submit him. The first round was rather even, though, and either fighter could have won it.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 1 REVIEW PART 2

Only a select few fights were aired in their entirety. Check out the first part of my review of the first episode of the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter to see what occurred there. This article focuses on the fights that were aired with cuts, and were shown as highlights. What was shown was still pretty impressive, though:

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON 12 EPISODE 1 REVIEW PART 1

The first episode was pretty awesome, as it was literally all about the fights. I'll start by reviewing the fights that were shown on air in their entirety, and then continue with the highlights tomorrow.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MARQUARDT VS. PALHARES REVIEW PART 1: THE MAIN EVENT

I've been very excited with this matchup for quite a while. Rousimar Palhares is a relative newcomer in the UFC, but has been quickly climbing the ranks because of his outstanding BJJ finishes. His opponent, however, is Nate "The Great" Marquardt, who has been professionally competing for more than ten years, is a former UFC Middleweight top contender, and King of Pancrase. Nate's one of the top guys in the UFC middleweight division, and if Palhares beats him, it could very well mean a top contender position for him in the near future. On the other hand, if Marquardt wins this one, then he could very well be catapulted into top contender status as well, a position so convincingly taken from him by Chael Sonnen at UFC 109.There's a lot riding on this fight, so both fighters are geared up.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MARQUARDT VS. PALHARES PREDICTIONS

Okay, now that I've published all of my reviews for UFC 118, I think it's a good time to post my predictions for the next UFC event coming next week, UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares:

UFC 118 REVIEW PART 5: THE PRELIMS

LAUZON VS. RUEDIGER

Diaz vs. Davis is my favorite fight of the night (and it was awarded as such), but, aside from Couture's performance against Toney, this is another of my favorite bouts of the evening. Joe Lauzon and Gabe Rueidger are both veterans of The Ultimate Fighter Season 5,but Lauzon had the better performance.