While the coaches’ fight remains in the planning stages, presumably for the end of 2023, the show’s arrival means some new and old blood returning to your TV (or other) screens. In particular, the TUF 31 format will see a mix of promotional newcomers and returning, former UFC fighters.

You probably won’t need a breakdown of those former UFC fighters, who include Jason Knight, Timur Valiev, ex-TUF champ Brad Katona, and Kurt Holobaugh, among others. As for the newcomers, we’ve got you covered ahead of the debut episode of The Ultimate Fighter 31.

Lightweight

Lee Hammond, 27, Dublin, Ireland, 5-0

Hammond was brought on to The Ultimate Fighter 31 only because of Conor McGregor. Having said that, Hammond is one of the better fighters that train with McGregor.

Hammond still has a lot of questions. His chin is questionable in the sense I’m not sure if he can take one square on the button. I’m still not entirely sold on his gas tank. From everything I’ve seen he’s improved greatly from where he was as an amateur however. Grappling is top notch and when it comes to his striking, he has a lot of good tools.

Hammond is a favorite to win the whole thing. He’s still rapidly growing being just 27. He hasn’t taken a lot of damage like a lot of the guys on the show this year. Hammond is one of the more complete fighters across both divisions.

The post The Ultimate Fighter 31 Cast Breakdown: The Newcomers appeared first on Cageside Press.

McGregor posted a photo and some video of the scene on his instagram.

 

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A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)

“I could have been dead there, mate. Lucky to get away with me life there boys,” McGregor says in the video he shot.

Footage shows McGregor’s road bike damaged from the impact and fall with pieces scattered around the scene. In the post McGregor says the driver couldn’t see him due to the glare from the sun as he drove around the corner.

In the video the driver, identified as Nick, was apologetic to McGregor who repeatedly told the driver not to worry.

The driver then loaded the bike into the vehicle and gave McGregor a ride home. McGregor recorded a video with the driver included in the original post.

McGregor (22-6), has not competed in MMA since breaking his leg in July 2021 against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. Recently rumors of a second coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter has had ‘The Notorious’ speaking about it on social media hinting that he may in fact take the opportunity.

UFC welterweight Tony Ferguson has said on social media that he took has been offered a coaching gig on the show.

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Heavyweight is always in need of bodies, and TUF 30 will look to provide a few options to the UFC. There are some strong prospects, a UFC champion’s brother, and a returning veteran among the mix. All will compete for the title of The Ultimate Fighter under the tutelage of Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes.

Here’s our look at the full field of heavyweights who will enter the TUF house this year.

Nyle Bartling, 29-years-old, 6-0

Bartling came into MMA off a solid wrestling pedigree. He grew up wrestling. He was a three-time state qualifier and claimed the district title three times. Outside of wrestling his freshman year for Ohio State, he wrestled his last three years of college for the University of Nebraska. His wrestling has translated very well and he is most likely the best wrestler among the TUF 30 cast. What will hold him back is his striking. Bartling has a lot of holes on the feet but hasn’t had to worry about it yet since he’s had his way with opponents so far.

Where a lot of heavyweights struggle the most is off their back and Bartling is the guy to put you there. Unlike a lot of other big men Bartling has the grappling to go along with the wrestling. His wrestling base and overall ground game, despite the lack of striking, will take him far.

The post The Ultimate Fighter Season 30 Cast Breakdown: The Heavyweights appeared first on Cageside Press.

Then, a long hiatus. It looked for a time as if the show was gone for good. Now, however, The Ultimate Fighter is back for season 29 and it’s set to air on ESPN+ on June 1, 2021. The season will see eight bantamweights and eight middleweights competing to be crowned the Ultimate Fighter. To lead the fighters along the way will be featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Brian Ortega.

With sixteen total fighters competing, many of whom will be new to fans, we’ll be breaking down each fighter among the cast. Last time, we took a look at the bantamweights. This time, we’ll do the same for the middleweights of TUF 29.

Aaron Phillips, 30-years-old, 5-2

Phillips is an Alaska FC guy and someone that could turn out like Uros Medic — or not, like the majority of those fighters. I do think Phillips is a decent fighter and brings it every time but I don’t see him as a high-level talent. He’s beaten awful competition and once he’s fought someone as a step-up he’s failed to succeed. He has held his own but is just steps behind. Despite what Phillips does well offensively, he fails to put it all together and his flaws outweigh his qualities at this point.

The post The Ultimate Fighter Season 29 Cast Breakdown: The Middleweights appeared first on Cageside Press.

Chris Leben, who just turned 38 years old on July 21, has battled addiction and health issues for the better part of his career. A “Crippler” comeback seemed unlikely, despite a burning desire to still compete.

Leben’s fortunes would change, however, when the TUF 1 veteran began talks with the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation regarding a potential comeback.

Cageside Press caught up with “The Crippler” just days after signing his contract to compete in the WBKFF. In typical Leben fashion, he would hold no punches when talking about Baroni, recovery, and the will to fight.

“I’m back baby,” Leben emphatically announced to Cageside Press just days after signing his Bare Knuckle fight contract to compete against Baroni.

“Physically I’ve never felt better and now that I have been taking care of my body, it’s opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me,” Leben explained.

The 38-year-old Leben has battled substance abuse issues for the majority of his combat sports career. His difficulties both personally and professionally have been well documented in that regard. By Chris Leben’s account, that is all in the past, providing he stays active in recovery, something that is paramount in his sobriety.

“Clean and sober for three years now,” Leben said. “Don’t get me wrong, its hard work. I put a lot into my recovery because I know without my sobriety, I have nothing at all.”

A “Crippler” comeback seemed unlikely given Leben’s post-fight career success in refereeing and coaching, but his return to the cage has been in developing for some time.

“My comeback was actually in the works for a while,” Leben explained. “I haven’t stopped training. I train every day, and I have more to fight for now than I ever have before.”

Leben is referring to his wife and beautiful baby girl who he credits for his newfound love of life. “It’s amazing,” Leben said when asked about his quality of life nowadays.

“I feel better now than I ever have in my life. It’s all just so insane, just a couple years ago I didn’t even know if I would be alive and now here I am training for my big comeback.”

“The Crippler’s” big comeback will culminate later this year when he meets “The New York Bad-Ass” Phil Baroni in a bare-knuckle boxing match, a fight that will take place at 205 pounds.

“Wait a second,” Leben joked. “You’re telling me that this guy is going to stand right in front of me and I get to punch him in the head with my bare hands! This kind of fight was tailor-made for me.”

Indeed it is Chris Leben. Indeed it is.

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What many people believe to be the last season of The Ultimate Fighter is in the process of being recorded at the now famous, or infamous, TUF house in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 28th installment of the fight-based reality show will showcase the women’s featherweight division as well as heavyweight men. TUF 28 ‘Heavy Hitters’ will feature season 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum and reigning middleweight champ/former TUF ‘Smashes’ winner Robert Whittaker as coaches.

This season’s grouping of women’s featherweights is solid, to say the least, but for one fighter in particular, her UFC moment is finally here after it was snatched away once before.

Leah Letson spoke with Cageside Press about entering the TUF house, pre-fight jitters, and finally reaching the UFC.

“I’m excited to be competing on the show at 145-pounds,” Letson told Cageside Press. “I’m really looking forward to it. I saw all the girls that tried out and I feel really confident. I did a scouting report myself and my coach Jake looked up all the fighters and I like my chances to become the last Ultimate Fighter.”

Strong words perhaps, but the 25-year-old Army Air National Guard Staff Sergeant means every single word she said.

“I’m a surveillance technician, a unit base technician, and an electronic detection technician,” explained Letson. “I was deployed all last year and that’s why I can’t wait to get back into the cage. I was overseas in the Middle East serving my country for the last year and a half. I’m just dying to get back in there and show off all my new tools.”

New tools aplenty, Letson has been acquiring her new arsenal of MMA weaponry with the burgeoning fight-team in Milwaukee, Wisconson, Pura Vida BJJ. Training mixed martial arts has been something of a Godsend for “Nidas,” who found it difficult to transition back to civilian life upon returning from her last tour of duty.

“I hope I can serve as a role model for men and women coming back from service,” Letson revealed. “Coming back [home] was such a challenge mentally for me, people talk about being away from home and that being the hard part but I found coming back and being reintegrated into society was the hard part.”

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Letson has a hard time doing anything; despite not yet making her official UFC debut, the Pura Vida fighter has lofty aspirations. “I’m coming for the 135-pound belt and the 145-pound belt,” said Letson.

“No women has ever won a title in two weight classes and I’m here to make history.”

Leah “Nidas” Letson’s quest to become the women’s GOAT begins August 29, kicking off TUF 28 on FS1.

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The cast for the 28th, and possibly final, season of The Ultimate Fighter has been announced and there is question about several of the female participants.  For a season that was expected to finally bolster the women’s featherweight division, many are shocked that the cast has several fighters who typically fight at bantamweight.

As it stands, several members of the roster are stand-out bantamweights such as Katharina Lehner, Pannie Kianzad, and Larissa Pacheco.  The move is perplexing as there has only been one non-title bout in the women’s featherweight division in the year and a half it has been open in the UFC.  Furthermore, several of the women who have fought for the title are considered to be natural bantamweights.  With increasing comments from featherweight champion and pound-for-pound stalwart Cris “Cyborg” Justino about leaving the UFC, there was question if she was feeling frustrated with the failure to sign new genuine featherweight talent to the promotion.  The announcement of The Ultimate Fighter featuring female featherweights was supposed to be a sign of change, but the unveiling of the roster has only fueled questions about the level of investment long-term in the weight-class.

It should be noted, the show has featured plenty of fighters who moved weight-classes as soon as the show concluded.  There is also the casting factor, as fighters may be chosen for how producers feel they will entertain on television and not solely on their skills or record.

The heavyweight roster features several up-and-coming fighters with varying records that range between four to twelve fights.  However, the stand-out record is held by Przemyslaw Mysiala, who enters the show at 22-9-1. He will enter the house with the most professional experience of anyone on the show, with previous fights in Bellator and ACB.

One coach will be middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, a TUF alumni who won the international season of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes as a member of the Australian team coached by George Sotiropolous in 2012.  Opposing him will be middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum won season won Season 17 as a member of Chael Sonnen’s team in 2013.  Gastelum notably was the last fighter picked on his season and upset arguably the most hyped prospect in the history of the show in Uriah Hall to win the final.  Both men will fight at the conclusion of the season with Gastelum challenging Whittaker for the middleweight title.

The show could be the last season of the long-running series as the UFC will move to a new broadcast partner in ESPN in 2019.  It is still unclear if the network is invested in the program compared to other content such as Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.  It is unclear if the UFC may choose to air the show exclusively on their Fight Pass app if ESPN chooses not to pick it up as part of their programming.  The Ultimate Fighter has aired since 2005 and is credited with helping to save the sport at a time when MMA and its athletes were not understood.

The 28th season of The Ultimate Fighter is set to air later this Fall.

The full cast is listed below:

Women’s featherweights

Leah Letson (4-1)

The post The Ultimate Fighter 28: Trouble for the Featherweight Division? appeared first on Cageside Press.

The narrative of April 9, 2005, has been written and revised several times. For example, Griffin vs Bonnar is the only fight talked about, but Rich Franklin earned a title shot that night. Griffin is frequently called “the original Ultimate Fighter,” but Diego Sanchez earned the honor roughly a half-hour prior. In the end, The Ultimate Fighter Finale is defined most by the fact that many fans were introduced to the sport for the very first time that night.

It’s common knowledge now: The UFC was in debt and Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta were strongly considering closing doors on the business when they shopped the idea of The Ultimate Fighter to Spike TV. No network was interested, and the Fertitta brothers had to foot the bill on the entire production for Spike to agree to broadcast it.

The premise was simple: 16 of the top undiscovered fighters in America would be live in a house and compete in a tournament where the winner would get a contract to fight in the UFC. Their coaches: Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Randy “The Natural” Couture, two future Hall-of-Famers who were in the prime of their careers.

The show was a success, at least as far as a reality show could be on Spike TV at the time. But the finale was the night that needed to deliver if the boat was to avoid sinking. The first bout on television would feature two names familiar to fans now. Team Liddell’s Diego Sanchez faced Team Couture’s Kenny Florian in the middleweight final. If you only watched that fight and changed the channel, you would be forgiven. Sanchez dominated Florian on the mat to finish the fight in a lackluster three minutes. “The Nightmare” gets credit for winning the first season of TUF, but fans forget that he actually held the title exclusively for roughly half an hour before the following bout.

MMA wasn’t on cable television often yet in 2005, so the fact that Griffin and Bonnar had their battle on this night could well be considered fate if you’re discussing the history of mixed martial arts. Would the sport still have made it without their epic collision being available on Spike? We may never know.

Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar went toe-to-toe for fifteen minutes of non-stop action. Both men stood their ground and exchanged combinations, never letting up on their breath-taking pace. Both men had their moments, finishing the fight bruised and bloodied. The UFC had been in far bigger venues than the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas for the event. However, find a replay and you’ll be pressed to find a more electric crowd ever in mixed martial arts than the one that was on hand that night.

There could only be one winner, and Griffin ended up hoisting the trophy when the night was over. But in a moment that continues to live on, UFC President Dana White declared “there are no losers” and awarded Stephan Bonnar with his own six-figure contract for his valiant effort that night.

For many people, that was the end of the evening. If you were one of the people who did not see it live, you may even be under the assumption that they were the marquee attraction that night. However, Rich Franklin still had business with Ken Shamrock minutes after the final Ultimate Fighter trophy awarded.

“Ace” had not yet become one of the greatest ambassadors of the sport in the late 2000’s. The UFC would soon be telling his story at every turn of going from math teacher to cage fighter as an example of how un-barbaric the sport and athletes are. But that night, Franklin was still new to the UFC stage as he needed just under three minutes to stop Shamrock in his fourth UFC bout. He would go on to defeat Evan Tanner for the middleweight title, a distinction he held for more than a year before running into another legend in Anderson Silva.

History remembers The Ultimate Fighter finale in unique ways. As Dana White put it, it was the night where fans came across it on television and immediately called their friends to tune in. It’s credited with saving the UFC, even though a second season had already been greenlit by Spike before the finale began. But one thing is certain, it provided a legendary battle at a time when the sport needed a jolt. Forrest Griffin would go on to coach TUF himself and even win the world championship, but he admits his greatest accomplishment is still winning the war with Stephan Bonnar that night. On a night where the UFC most needed a classic, it got one. That alone makes it a night that continues to live on.

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