Sherdog.com's Guide to TUF 7
Scott Holmes May 8, 2008
Last week Team Rampage's Jeremy
May (Pictures) decided that smokeless tobacco
and lime juice would go great together -- like chocolate and peanut
butter.
Perhaps Matt Brown's palate just isn't as sophisticated as May's, but as the owner of said tobacco, he wasn't too impressed with the addition of lime. Brown decided that punching May repeatedly would be the best course of action and chose him to fight next.
This week Brown's team chats openly about how much trouble May is
in, and most of them can't wait to see it happen.
"He wants his attention, and if he can't get that by putting on a good fight, he'll get it by being annoying," says Amir Sadollah.
Later Credeur goes one step further while describing May's behavior, saying he is everything that fighters have worked so hard to prove they are not. "He is a douche bag," Credeur adds.
"It will be a good warm-up fight for me," says a smirking May of his bout with Brown. "I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. I mean that in a good Christian way. I'll beat his face in."
Brown's team disagrees. By most accounts they consider Brown to be the meanest guy they've ever been around.
Says Sadollah: "I'm going to predict that Matt Brown is going to win by murder."
Uh oh.
"If we are doing a drill, he's going to punch you full speed," Forrest Griffin (Pictures) says of Brown.
Teammate Nick Klein concurs. "You don't know what he's thinking," he says. "You don't know how he's feeling. Every once in a while he'll come out and say some things, and usually they are pretty manly."
Brown discusses his troubled past with drugs, alcohol, street fights and time in jail. He looks at MMA as his life support and takes it very seriously.
May flexes his pecs like Lex Luger at the weigh-in while Brown is all business. Afterward May's own teammate, Mathew Riddle, plays the role of Judas, admonishing Brown to attack May's weak knee.
Unfortunately for Brown and May's coaches, May hasn't been very forthright when it comes to his injury. He's been sitting out of cardio and training drills, taking it easy on his knee. Turns out, though, May is not as hurt as he's been letting on. In fact, May claims that he's been pacing himself by sandbagging his injury.
The time comes to see if May knows something that everyone else doesn't.
He starts the fight looking like he wants to bang, throwing looping shots with his long arms. Brown backs up and eats some decent punches before he finally lands one of his own that causes May to slip. Brown skips Griffin's advice by going to the ground to engage May and then quickly passes into full mount.
May works his way out, however, and even slips out of an armbar attempt by dumping Brown onto his head. For a badass, Brown seems very tentative in this fight. As the round wears on, May begins to lose steam.
Griffin is losing his mind in Brown's corner. His voice breaks as he screams for Brown to pick up the action.
Brown takes his time, picking his shots against a listless May. Then Brown begins to land everything he throws, and a desperate May tries to duck under Brown but instead gets caught with a perfect left foot on the chin that knocks him out.
"My foot got hurt from his face," Brown says afterward.
May claims that Brown got lucky. It seems that his plan to pace himself didn't work out too well with Brown getting in a week's worth of solid cardio.
After another loss for Rampage's team, Dana White notes the developing tension.
"They are both funny guys," he says of Rampage and Griffin. "They like to joke around, but it's getting tense now."
Rampage is puzzled on how Griffin is choosing the matchups. Griffin laughs and tells him that it's nothing more than a flip of the coin, furthering Jackson's befuddlement.
With such a short first fight, we get another matchup this week. After another flip of the coin, Griffin's team chooses Daniel Cramer versus Luke Zachrich.
"He is the hottest cast member," says Credeur wryly of the handsome Cramer, who catches crap for being a pretty boy that worked at a country club.
Other than that, not a whole lot of prefight hype when you have two unassuming fighters that choose not to bring any unwarranted drama into the Octagon.
Both do have a chip on their shoulders, though, with Zachrich wanting payback for being the last fighter chosen on the show and Cramer battling the misconception that he's not a real fighter. Cramer laughs it off, saying he doesn't "have tattoos or pink hair" but calls himself a hard worker. Rampage calls him a "secret" and says that he has an iron chin.
To begin the fight, Cramer makes a beeline toward Zachrich, swinging away until the two tie up. Zachrich connects with a right hand that rattles Cramer for a second.
In the next exchange, Zachrich starts to connect and shows some strength by tossing Cramer into the fence. Cramer begins to find some luck in the clinch, however, holding Zachrich's head and pounding on him.
Zachrich showcases a strong chin of his own after taking everything Cramer has for about a minute. Cramer can't miss, but Zachrich doesn't go down. For every four punches he eats, he lands one of his own. Zachrich decides to change levels, taking Cramer down with a leg trip that puts him on top.
Zachrich spends the last minute of the first round looking for a rear-naked choke, but he isn't able to seal the deal. He's gassed.
As the fight gears back up, Cramer connects with a few punches and then easily puts Zachrich onto his back. Zachrich makes no effort to stop Cramer from mounting him, eats an elbow or two and rolls over.
Cramer keeps pounding, forcing Zachrich back onto his back. Sensing the end, Cramer keeps active with small punches until Steve Mazzagatti steps in with about half of the round left.
Rampage calls it the best fight he's seen in a long time, clearly happy about the win. It is now 4-1 between the teams with Griffin in the lead, but for the first time, Jackson's team will have control of the matchup next week.
Perhaps Matt Brown's palate just isn't as sophisticated as May's, but as the owner of said tobacco, he wasn't too impressed with the addition of lime. Brown decided that punching May repeatedly would be the best course of action and chose him to fight next.
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"He wants his attention, and if he can't get that by putting on a good fight, he'll get it by being annoying," says Amir Sadollah.
Tim Credeur delivers the best line of the season so far: "If Jeremy
and I were the last two people on earth, I would quickly become the
last person on earth."
Later Credeur goes one step further while describing May's behavior, saying he is everything that fighters have worked so hard to prove they are not. "He is a douche bag," Credeur adds.
"It will be a good warm-up fight for me," says a smirking May of his bout with Brown. "I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. I mean that in a good Christian way. I'll beat his face in."
Brown's team disagrees. By most accounts they consider Brown to be the meanest guy they've ever been around.
Says Sadollah: "I'm going to predict that Matt Brown is going to win by murder."
Uh oh.
"If we are doing a drill, he's going to punch you full speed," Forrest Griffin (Pictures) says of Brown.
Teammate Nick Klein concurs. "You don't know what he's thinking," he says. "You don't know how he's feeling. Every once in a while he'll come out and say some things, and usually they are pretty manly."
Brown discusses his troubled past with drugs, alcohol, street fights and time in jail. He looks at MMA as his life support and takes it very seriously.
May flexes his pecs like Lex Luger at the weigh-in while Brown is all business. Afterward May's own teammate, Mathew Riddle, plays the role of Judas, admonishing Brown to attack May's weak knee.
Unfortunately for Brown and May's coaches, May hasn't been very forthright when it comes to his injury. He's been sitting out of cardio and training drills, taking it easy on his knee. Turns out, though, May is not as hurt as he's been letting on. In fact, May claims that he's been pacing himself by sandbagging his injury.
The time comes to see if May knows something that everyone else doesn't.
He starts the fight looking like he wants to bang, throwing looping shots with his long arms. Brown backs up and eats some decent punches before he finally lands one of his own that causes May to slip. Brown skips Griffin's advice by going to the ground to engage May and then quickly passes into full mount.
May works his way out, however, and even slips out of an armbar attempt by dumping Brown onto his head. For a badass, Brown seems very tentative in this fight. As the round wears on, May begins to lose steam.
Griffin is losing his mind in Brown's corner. His voice breaks as he screams for Brown to pick up the action.
Brown takes his time, picking his shots against a listless May. Then Brown begins to land everything he throws, and a desperate May tries to duck under Brown but instead gets caught with a perfect left foot on the chin that knocks him out.
"My foot got hurt from his face," Brown says afterward.
May claims that Brown got lucky. It seems that his plan to pace himself didn't work out too well with Brown getting in a week's worth of solid cardio.
After another loss for Rampage's team, Dana White notes the developing tension.
"They are both funny guys," he says of Rampage and Griffin. "They like to joke around, but it's getting tense now."
Rampage is puzzled on how Griffin is choosing the matchups. Griffin laughs and tells him that it's nothing more than a flip of the coin, furthering Jackson's befuddlement.
With such a short first fight, we get another matchup this week. After another flip of the coin, Griffin's team chooses Daniel Cramer versus Luke Zachrich.
"He is the hottest cast member," says Credeur wryly of the handsome Cramer, who catches crap for being a pretty boy that worked at a country club.
Other than that, not a whole lot of prefight hype when you have two unassuming fighters that choose not to bring any unwarranted drama into the Octagon.
Both do have a chip on their shoulders, though, with Zachrich wanting payback for being the last fighter chosen on the show and Cramer battling the misconception that he's not a real fighter. Cramer laughs it off, saying he doesn't "have tattoos or pink hair" but calls himself a hard worker. Rampage calls him a "secret" and says that he has an iron chin.
To begin the fight, Cramer makes a beeline toward Zachrich, swinging away until the two tie up. Zachrich connects with a right hand that rattles Cramer for a second.
In the next exchange, Zachrich starts to connect and shows some strength by tossing Cramer into the fence. Cramer begins to find some luck in the clinch, however, holding Zachrich's head and pounding on him.
Zachrich showcases a strong chin of his own after taking everything Cramer has for about a minute. Cramer can't miss, but Zachrich doesn't go down. For every four punches he eats, he lands one of his own. Zachrich decides to change levels, taking Cramer down with a leg trip that puts him on top.
Zachrich spends the last minute of the first round looking for a rear-naked choke, but he isn't able to seal the deal. He's gassed.
As the fight gears back up, Cramer connects with a few punches and then easily puts Zachrich onto his back. Zachrich makes no effort to stop Cramer from mounting him, eats an elbow or two and rolls over.
Cramer keeps pounding, forcing Zachrich back onto his back. Sensing the end, Cramer keeps active with small punches until Steve Mazzagatti steps in with about half of the round left.
Rampage calls it the best fight he's seen in a long time, clearly happy about the win. It is now 4-1 between the teams with Griffin in the lead, but for the first time, Jackson's team will have control of the matchup next week.
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