TUF 7

(Sad Amir is sad. Fan art courtesy of myspace.com/ammmir.) 

In a new interview with MMA Junkie, TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah stated that a move down to 170 pounds is "definitely...in my future," as soon as he recovers from his latest injury. After winning the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter last June by submitting CB Dollaway via armbar in the finale — which also happened to be Sadollah's professional MMA debut — he had to pull out of UFC 91 in November due to a leg injury. Sadollah became officially cursed when he had to drop out of last Saturday's UFC Fight Night 17 show because of a shoulder injury. As he explains:

Unfortunately, he doesn't know exactly when that will be:

It's unclear whether Sadollah will take a fight at middleweight before making his planned drop to welterweight. For now, he's just focused on getting healthy. Poor guy...even Jesse "Mongo" Taylor seems to be doing better than this kid.

(Dustin Hazelett earning his bonus money. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

The list of official salaries from the Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale has been released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The numbers are below; each winning fighter's payout represents a doubling of his base salary.

Diego Sanchez: $70,000
Dustin Hazelett: $64,000 (includes $20,000 Submission of the Night bonus and $20,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Drew McFedries: $46,000 (includes $20,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Spencer Fisher: $36,000
Kendall Grove: $32,000
Josh Burkman: $30,000 (includes $20,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Dean Lister: $28,000
Jeremy Horn: $25,000
Evan Tanner: $25,000
Amir Sadollah: $16,000
Matthew Riddle: $16,000
Jeremy Stephens: $16,000
Matt Brown: $16,000
Luigi Fioravanti: $10,000
Marvin Eastman: $9,000
C.B. Dollaway: $8,000
Dante Rivera: $8,000
Matt Arroyo: $8,000
Tim Credeur: $8,000*
Cale Yarbrough: $8,000*
Rob Kimmons: $6,000
Rob Yundt: $5,000

* Credeur and Yarbrough both reportedly received their to-show salaries, even though their match was canceled the night of the fight due to Credeur testing positive for Adderall.

(The #1 image on GIS for "friday grind"...seriously.)

It's the usual post-April Fool's holiday blues wind-down. We're all just biding our time until Happy Hour, so here are a few shorties to keep you busy until then.

--- The UFC is now making more fights official for UFC 85. The show is to go down on June 7th in London. We already know Chuck Liddell will face Rashad Evans in the lame main event, and we've followed the other rumors, so let's take a look at the UFC's official card as it stands now:

-- Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans
-- Fabricio Werdum vs Brandon Vera
-- Martin Kampmann vs Jorge Rivera
-- Mike Swick vs Marcus Davis
-- Nate Marquardt vs Thales Leites
-- Jason Lambert vs Luis Cane
-- Thiago Tavares vs Matt Wiman

Other rumored fights for the event that have not been stamped with the UFC official approval yet include: Jess Liaudin versus Paul Taylor, Antoni Hardonk versus Neil Wain, and Ryo Chonan versus Roan Carneiro. This comes via MMAWeekly, but we'll keep our eyes on it for you.

--- BloodyElbow is reporting that the UFC Fight Night 13's ratings were --- in a word --- shitty. The show did a 1.1 rating, which is terrible if you know anything about ratings. For such a stacked card, this really sucks for MMA on free TV. It goes to show you the unfortunate need for a Kimbo/Brock Lesnar/Chuck Liddell as a main eventer.

"TUF 7" pulled a 1.3 immediately after the 3-hour event, so the previous joint retained its audience and gained some reality show hounds, too. For whatever it's worth.

--- And file this one with the Too Drunk to Care Bureau. Fightlinker dug up a crack-head's video of Ken Shamrock apparently jonesin' for meth. Check it out if you dare:

I'll give them a tip o' hat for editing, but first --- a few quick words to the meth-head:

1) Work on your spelling and punctuation
2) Work on a Ken Shamrock 'roids video
3) Meth...we're assuming the Ken Shamrock pictorial is meant as sarcastic?
4) You gotta' hook-up?

Have a bitchin' weekend.

(The coaches, sans shirts, for "TUF 7".)

The season premiere of "The Ultimate Fighter 7" kicked off after UFC Fight Night 13 rocked the shit. If you're not drunk enough yet, hold on for a full rundown of what happened in the opening show of Team Forrest versus Team Jackson...

After a recap of the past seasons --- peppered with Dana's "you're gone" speeches --- we get underway.

Segment One
It took a few moments, but the 16 fighters standing around in the gym who think they are the official 16, were soon shown additional fighters. They all soon realized there were a bit more than 16 of them. Turns out, one or two of them can count and there are 32 fighters. Dana comes in and explains that he is tired of the "pussies and the posers" --- hence the solution of having 32 fighters. "This season, you're gonna' fight your way onto the show," says Baldy.

Rampage claims to have smelled the shit in the fighters' pants after Dana's speech. Meanwhile, Dana was being bleeped more than Ozzy Osbourne.

After some brief "confessional" interviews with some of the cast, the guys weigh-in after only 48 hours to make weight. I think I just saw my brother on the show, but he ran away years ago. Maybe I should call my Mom about that one...

For those keeping track, here are the fighters fighting to get on the show: Paul Bradley, Steve Byrnes, Mike Dolce, Gerald Harris, Dante Rivera, David Baggett, Matt Brown, Erik Charles, John Clarke, Daniel Cramer, Tim Credeur, Clarence Dollaway, John Hall, Nick Klein, David Mewborn, Mike Marrello, Jeremy May, Prince LaDonas Mclean, Aaron Meisner, Reggie Orr, Matthew Riddle, Jeremiah Riggs, David Roberts, Nick Rossborough, Amir Sadollah, Patrick Schultz, Brandon Sene, Dan Simmler, Jesse Taylor, Cale Yarbrough, John Wood, and Luke Zachrich.

Burger King has it their way and sponsors the first elimination fight. It pits Prince McLean (4-5) against Mike Dolce (4-4). Just a couple of sweet kids trying to make their way.

Segment Two
The fight kicks off and Prince --- after having earlier mentioned he has been on a losing streak --- takes a shot and they hit the ground. Rampage mumbles something about liking Prince, just before he gets taken out via TKO by Dolce. He seems to be okay until the fucking waterworks start. We're not even officially on the show yet and we have crybaby tears. The sad music tugs at my hearts strings. Not really.

Fight Two is Cal Yarbrough (0-0) against John Clarke (6-2). Seems Cal is kinda' pals with Forrest Griffin --- although Forrest isn't bettin' on him. However, his opponent had to drop 17 big L.B.s to make weight. He also says he's getting too old to keep doing this --- fighting in Boston pubs and stuff like that at his age. Um...no comment about the town that lives for St. Patty's and knocking out teeth for fun.

Segment Three
The fight is on and Clarke scores, prompting Forrest to say it's "garbage." Some punishment by Clarke has Yarbrough rolling around and almost getting nailed by a kimura. Some back-of-the-head warnings are given to Clarke --- thanks to an audience of back seat refs. They go to their feet for a bit, but it hits the mat again almost as quickly. Clarke almost pulls an armbar, but Cal slips it and almost gets caught in a g'tine. Somehow, the thing gets upright again but it looks like Clarke is whipped --- funny how dropping 17 pounds in 48 hours will do that to you. Cal tosses some shitty throws and it's called due to Clarke being gassed. Clarke really could have won the thing had he been in the shape he needed to be in. Now we should cue the sad music.

No "seeya" for Clarke, but he was probably too tired to do that, too. The next elimination fight sees Steve Byrnes (6-1) against Amir Sadollah (0-0).

"The Ultimate Fighter 7" is just around the corner and Spike TV has some new vids of the coaches hyping the April 2nd premiere. You can go here for more "TUF 7" videos and if you're feelin' badass, you can use the same link to apply for season 8 of the show.

Rampage waxes eloquent about Forrest Griffin's lack of ass-wiping ability:

Forrest Griffin doesn't know his assistant coach's name and is all about the new car:

Props: BloodyElbow