I agree a lot of young talent from that season, but now it seems like instead of building the TUF guys there just feeding them to the wolves. Diego, Kos, Swick, Leben and even Forrest, all those guys were built up.
Vinny has crazy upside because of his world class jitz and they just let him go.
Tom Lawlor - I think I was, but I haven't seen it in retrospect....
We exchanged a few punches, clinched and I got a takedown, he threw up a triangle, I lifted him up and walked him over to my corner, placed him down and passed to side, locked up a d'arce, let go after a few seconds, then illegally knee'd him.
this is all from my memory during the fight, so like I said it may be different than I remember.
It's a moot point, he has the win on his record and I'm fine with that. I learned, and at this point we are both better fighters than we were then I'm sure.
I was cage side for that event. That's basically how I remember it too.
This was the same event that the lights in the entire arena went out during Spiritwolf's title fight against Danny Ruiz.
I think Season 8 had some of the best talent pool of all recent seasons, especially LHW!
-Ryan Bader (1-0 UFC) This guy seems to be the perfect matchup for Lyoto Machida. I'd give Bader 1.5 years and I think he can do it. The guy just manhandled ex-HW Carmello Marrero in impressive fashion. He has the perfect wrestling with great striking to be a champ.
-Eliot Marshall (2-0 UFC) This guy is as nice as can be and has very great bjj credentials on his resume. He is now training with Greg Jackson and I believe he can be a contender within a year or two if he continues improving. Great fight against Vinny!
-Tom Lawlor (2-0 UFC) Just defeated highly ranked MW prospect, CB Dollaway. Very impressive fight and Tom alway's has the best entrances! Also made history with UFC 100...."Just Bleed" !!!
-Kyle Kingsbury (0-1 UFC) Very, very green but he is an explosive athlete. He is still under contract with the UFC so hopefully he'll do well. On TUF 8 he only had 6 months experience on the ground! Crazy..
-Kryzstof Soszynzski: (3-0 UFC) This guy is on a roll! Taking out ex WEC LHW champ Brian Stann in impressive fashion! I believe he has taken home 2 bonus's out of 3 fights. He is now facing Brandon Vera at UFC 102!
-Vinny Magalhaes (0-2 UFC) Amazing Jiu Jitsu! The best bjj every to be seen on TUF imo. He will be back for sure, he just needs more MMA experience. He fought great against Eliot Marshall and many people believe he won that fight.
I gave my opinion about the TUF 8 LHW's above, but I was just thinking about the TUF 8 LW's and there was alot of talent as well.
-Shane Nelson (2-1 UFC) After defeating George Roop on the TUF 8 Finale card, his first fight was against Aaron Riley! Shane was able to land a shot that rocked Riley, but many people argued the stoppage. They recently rematched at UFC 101 and Shane Nelson def proved he belongs in the UFC with a 3 round war against Riley.
-Efrain Escudero (1-0 UFC) This guy has the perfect arsenal of weapons. He's a great wrestler, great BJJ, and great striking. He has finished almost all of his fights by submission and is a large lightweight. I'm picking Efrain to upset Cole Miller come UFC 103!
-Phillipe Nover (0-2 UFC) He was sought to be the next "Anderson Silva" but lets not remember who originally stated that, Big NOG! He had ALOT of pressure leading into the Finale and I believe thats what cost him the fight. He got caught very similar to Aaron Riley did when he lost to Shane Nelson. I feel this guy had way too much hype and pressure but nonetheless, a great person and great fighter!
-Roli Delgado (1-1 UFC) Rolando displayed some of the best bjj I've seen in a while against Paul Kelly. Roli had amazing control and won a round but Kelly was able to wrestle out the decision. We are now seeing Roli face TUF 9 Finalist Andre Winner. They are giving Roli tough fights for a reason, I'm picking him to upset Andre!
-Junie Browning (1-1 UFC) Love or absolutely hate this guy, he made history on TUF. Dana White calls him the "most imfamous cast member of TUF" for a reason. There were interviews where Junie said he planned his stunts to get his name out there, but planned or not, EVERYONE now knows his name. I have to give credit to him for that, he made a character that people will love to see fight, win or lose.
-George Roop (1-2 UFC) This guy is a hard-nosed, hard worker, and not afraid of anyone. He showed no fear the entire season, or never backed down or broke. He carries himself very well and imo he reminds me of a "Militich fighter" like a Josh Neer, Spencer Fisher, etc. He would fit right in with those guys. BTW he just took a fight w. George Sotiropoulos on 2 weeks notice!!!
-John Polakowski (0-1 UFC) Hands down the nicest guy EVER, to make it on a season of The Ultimate Fighter.
In my opinion, Efrain and Nover are the only 2 with promising futures.
Polakowski, Roop, & Kaplan aren't talented enough to compete in the UFC.
Delgado has some potential upside because of his BJJ, but he'll probably get cut if he loses to Andre Winner.
Shane Nelson is talented and still young, but I think he is better suited for the WEC at 145. He looked real small against Riley.
Junie could be UFC quality eventually because he is still young, but Cole made him look so far out of his league. Nothing wrong with losing to Cole, he is definitely UFC quality, but Cole made him look like an amateur
I've been wrong before many times, so I may be wrong about these guys too
Tom Lawlor - Everyone was pretty inexperienced going in to the show. Out of the guys left in the UFC, most had only been fighting for a short time, take a look:
-Ryan Bader Debut: 3/31/2007 (1-0 UFC)
-Eliot Marshall debut: 2/11/2006 (2-0 UFC)
-Tom Lawlor debut: 3/10/2007 (2-0 UFC)
-Kyle Kingsbury debut: 6/10/2006 (0-1 UFC)
-Krystof: debuted in 2003, but only recently moved to Team Quest full time (3-0 UFC)
-Vinny Magalhaes debuted at the end of 2006, and just recently began fighting full time
-Shane Primm had 1 pro fight (a dq win over me) before TUF8, and trains full-time w/ Gracie Tampa now
-Jules Bruchez might be dead, i'm not sure
but my point in all of this is that with all of the bad rap that TUF fighters seem to get nowadays, there is real talent on some of the seasons, and I especially think that the lhw's coming off of TUF8 have huge upsides in the future.
Not a hater Tom but what where the records of those opponents?
Are u talking about the UFC records of the opponents of the guys I have listed?
The overall records of the guys who have fought in the UFC? the overall record of the opponents of the guys I have listed?
I'm a little confused by the question.
and Vinny, stick to FIFA.....judging by your Fight Night skills you shouldn't be fighting
what r u talking about?
I beat the shit out of you at fight night. you may have won a couple fights, but the overall record shows me as the better fighter.
One guy from this show who is underrated was Antwain Britt. He got injured on the show, but he's gone 4-1 since, including an 8-second KO win over Antonio Mendes in May at Shine Fights 1. I think he's on the verge of signing with a big organization.
