TUF 4 starts tomorrow night and for those that don't know all the participants are UFC veterans.
Yo anyone remember Mikey Burnett?
I'm looking forward to this more than any past seasons not only because there are some really good fighters on there, but a friend of mine, Jeremy Jackson is on the show. When I lived in Ventura we trained at the same gym, Mavericks, and hung out some. Really nice guy and a badass striker: 2-0 in pro boxing. I do hope he's been working on his ground game.
Welterweights
Mikey Burnett
Age – 31
Notable Win – TKO Eugenio Tadeu – 3/13/98
Notable Loss – Ldec Pat Miletich – 10/16/98
Inactive in MMA since a win over Townsend Saunders at UFC 18 in 1999, Burnett – an early member of The Lions Den team - left the sport as one of the top lower-weight fighters in the UFC, and just before the MMA boom in the US. But there was obviously unfinished business for the 31-year-old from Tulsa, and now’s the time for him to settle it.
Shonie Carter
Age – 34
Notable Win – KO 3 Matt Serra – 5/4/01
Notable Loss – TKO by 1 Nate Quarry – 6/4/05
What more can you say about “Mr. International” that he hasn’t already said himself? One of the sport’s great characters, Carter is a fighter’s fighter, the type of guy who will take a fight at a moment’s notice against anyone. It will be interesting to see what six weeks of nothing but training will do for Carter.
Rich Clementi
Age – 30
Notable Win – Wsub1 Joe Jordan – 5/4/02 (FFC)
Notable Loss – Lsub3 Yves Edwards – 2/28/03
A hard-nosed vet whose only UFC fight was a submission defeat to Yves Edwards in 2003, Clementi has fought some of the best lightweights in the world over the course of a close to seven year MMA career. It will be interesting to see if the jump to 170 pounds for TUF4 will help him or hurt him.
Jeremy Jackson
Age – 23
Notable Win – TKO1 Nick Diaz – 9/28/02 (UA)
Notable Loss – Lsub3 Nick Diaz – 9/26/03
Best remembered for his trilogy with Nick Diaz (which ended with a submission loss at UFC 44), the 23-year-old Jackson has one of the most compelling and harrowing backstories in all of combat sports, something that will surely be recounted during the TUF4 series.
Chris Lytle
Age – 31
Notable Win – Wsub2 Ronald Jhun – 8/21/04
Notable Loss – Ldec3 Robbie Lawler – 11/21/03
A fireman and married father of four, Lytle’s UFC record may be a spotty 2-4, but he always gave a supreme effort in his bouts, and his hands are good enough to have compiled a 13-1 record as a pro boxer. A tough out for anyone in the game.
Matt Serra
Age – 32
Notable Win – Wdec3 Jeff Curran – 1/31/04
Notable Loss – KO 3 Shonie Carter – 5/4/01
One of the best grapplers in the sport, Serra – a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black belt – sometimes lets his warrior instincts get the best of him and he engages in standup wars that leave him on the losing end of bouts. Best example of this was his 2001 classic with Carter which saw Serra KOed in the final seconds of a close bout with a spinning backfist. Could be the best of the bunch going into the competition.
Pete Spratt
Age – 35
Notable Win – Wsub2 Robbie Lawler – 4/25/03
Notable Loss – Lsub1 Josh Koscheck – 8/6/05
MMA’s Renaissance man, Spratt has appeared in movies, tried out for a number of NFL teams, and recently released a CD, ‘Real’. Once the bell rings, he’s beaten Robbie Lawler and cast mate Rich Clementi, but has also lost to TUF4 competitor Chris Lytle. May be the ‘old’ man of the cast, but if he catches you with one of his punches or kicks, you could be going home early.
Din Thomas
Age – 29
Notable Win – Wsub2 Jens Pulver – 8/26/00 (WEF)
Notable Loss – TKO by 1 BJ Penn – 6/29/01
One of the game’s class acts, Thomas has fought a Who’s Who of top lightweight fighters, going 2-2 in the Octagon against the likes of Serra, Fabiano Iha, BJ Penn, and Caol Uno. One of the casualties of the UFC’s 155-pound weight class hiatus (which ended earlier this year), Thomas jumps to 170 to try his hand at earning a welterweight title shot.
Middleweights
Patrick Cote
Age – 26
Notable Win – KO1 Bill Mahood – 5/22/04 (TKO)
Notable Loss – LDec3 Tito Ortiz – 10/22/04
A hard-hitting Quebec native with a ton of potential, Cote just hasn’t been able to put it all together in the Octagon. Lost his UFC debut to Tito Ortiz at light heavyweight, going the distance with the former champ and even rocking him briefly early in the bout. Dropped to 185 pounds and lost two more hard fought bouts – to Joe Doerksen and Chris Leben. Has since won two in a row in Canada, both by submission.
Edwin Dewees
Age – 23
Notable Win – WDec3 Drew Fickett – 3/15/02 (Rage in The Cage)
Notable Loss – TKO by 1 Rich Franklin – 9/26/03
A fighter who has seemingly been around forever, Dewees is still only 23 years old and has plenty of time left to develop into a world-class fighter. A submission artist, ‘Babyface’ made his long-awaited UFC debut in September of 2003 but was stopped by future UFC middleweight champ Rich Franklin. If Dewees can emerge from the TUF4 pack, he could be looking at redemption in a rematch with Franklin.
Travis Lutter
Age – 33
Notable Win – KO2 Marvin Eastman – 10/22/04
Notable Loss – Lsub2 Matt Lindland – 4/16/05
Known primarily for his stellar Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Lutter made a big splash on the UFC scene in 2004 with a second round knockout of Marvin Eastman. He would lose his next two Octagon bouts to Matt Lindland and Trevor Prangley, but Lutter has subsequently won two in a row, including a submission win over Jose Landi-Jons in February.
Charles McCarthy
Age – 25
Notable Win – Wsub2 Keith Rockel – 10/30/04 (AFC)
Notable Loss – TKO by 2 David Loiseau – 6/4/05
A tough kid with good submissions and some pop in his punches, McCarthy is unfortunately remembered for being the recipient of a highlight reel back kick by David Loiseau in his lone UFC fight in June of 2005. A win on TUF4 will go a long way towards erasing that picture in the minds of MMA fans.
Gideon Ray
Age – 33
Notable Win – Wsub3 Derrick Noble – 5/18/02 (Ironheart Crown)
Notable Loss – TKO by 1 Mike Swick – 8/6/05
Blasted out in 22 seconds by rising star Mike Swick in his last UFC bout, the power-punching Ray has compiled a bunch of wins in smaller shows, but he needs to show that he can win on the next level of the sport. This is his chance to prove it.
Jorge Rivera
Age – 34
Notable Win – Wdec3 David Loiseau – 9/26/03
Notable Loss – Lsub3 Rich Franklin – 10/22/04
A scrappy fighter who is always ready for a war, Massachusetts’ Rivera holds a win over David Loiseau and gave middleweight champ Rich Franklin perhaps his toughest UFC fight. Lost his last Octagon bout to Chris Leben, but the senior member of the TUF4 middleweight cast is eager to get back into title contention.
Pete Sell
Age – 27
Notable Win – Wsub3 Phil Baroni – 2/5/05
Notable Loss – TKO by 1 Nate Quarry – 8/6/05
From the highs of an upset win over Phil Baroni in his UFC debut to the lows of getting stopped in a single round by Nate Quarry six months later, Sell has run the gamut of emotions in his UFC career. Expect Sell to come out hard and give it all as he’s pushed not only by the TUF4 coaches but by his regular MMA coach, Matt Serra.
Scott Smith
Age – 27
Notable Win – KO 1 Justin Levens – 1/13/06 (WEC)
Notable Loss – Lsub1 David Terrell – 4/15/06
A hard-charging fighter who lives up to his ‘Hands of Steel’ moniker, Smith was submitted by David Terrell in his UFC debut in April, but the controversial nature of the fight’s ending has fueled the Californian to work his way back into the organization by taking the reality television route.
TUF 4: The Old Timerz
