Contender Spoilers

[Romdawg88]

Originally Posted by mh2365

I don't like this format for several reasons. Measurements on a machine will never tell you how a fighter will respond in a real fight.

I don't like that guys got eliminated without strapping on the gloves.

Second thing is how do you have a tourney with 10 guys? After they all fight there will be 5 left. Where do you go from there???

Also Ray said all 10 of you will fight in the next two weeks .. was that a slip up or are all five first round fights going to happen in the next two weeks or did he mean in reality and they will show the fights over the next 5 weeks?

One good thing is everyone over 30 except Soliman is gone.

Right now I'd say the top 5 are in no order ... Bika, Soliman, Codrington, Smith and Buchanon.

My guess is that in the second round their going to give someone a bye. The only other way I can think they can make it work with an uneven number is some sort of round robin setup. I think he meant that in reality they would all fight in the next two weeks with the fights being shown over 5 weeks.

[a87star]

Originally Posted by mh2365

I don't like this format for several reasons. Measurements on a machine will never tell you how a fighter will respond in a real fight.

I don't like that guys got eliminated without strapping on the gloves.

Second thing is how do you have a tourney with 10 guys? After they all fight there will be 5 left. Where do you go from there???

Also Ray said all 10 of you will fight in the next two weeks .. was that a slip up or are all five first round fights going to happen in the next two weeks or did he mean in reality and they will show the fights over the next 5 weeks?

One good thing is everyone over 30 except Soliman is gone.

Right now I'd say the top 5 are in no order ... Bika, Soliman, Codrington, Smith and Buchanon.

I agree that they should have picked a better way to decide who stays and who goes. Machines can't really tell anyone how a fighter will perform in fight conditions. The foundation of the idea was good, just was executed in a rush.

It sounds like they are going to space out the five fights. Next week they are going to show only one fight.

[maxx]

I have to agree that the machine elimination was lame. I can see using that information as part of the selection process, but it should have been tied to actual sparring. At least give everyone the chance to prove it in the ring.

The whole Santiago weight issue bothered me as well. Besides the fact that the guy never should have shown up that far overweight to begin with, they should have known on day 1 whether they were too concerned with his health to let him cut weight.

My cynical self tells me that, if in sparring, he had shown himself to be a real terror in the ring and/or great charisma (and potential big ratings draw) those health concerns would have disappeared rapidly. Heck, they may even have stooped to paying for his colonics like the UFC did on last season's TUF.

[mh2365]

The thing about Santiago is that he is a LHW so he probably does walk around at 195 ... but to know you are going on the show and not dropping it was inexcusable. They have a good opportunity to get a "Mora, Manfredo, Gomez" type result on this show with the mix they have.

Codrington and Smith could be huge gets for them. From my understand the top few are tied into Contender contracts.

I hope they see what a huge mistake last season was.

If they are really going HW next season then they need to do whatever they can to get Arreola and David Haye on the show. Haye has already said win, lose or draw against Mormeck (and this fight better make it onto tv) he is going to the HW division.

[a87star]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Codrington and Smith could be huge gets for them. From my understand the top few are tied into Contender contracts.

If that's the case, those are two real good signings for the "Contender" camp. Out of the ten left on the show, Codrington and Smith have the potential to do great things. I'm wondering if Soliman and Bika have deals like that.

[mh2365]

I would think it's a prerequisite but I don't know for sure. Budrage and Forbes are still fighting under the Contender banner. Bonsante was too, I believe.

[a87star]

Grady Brewer has a deal with them too but he hasn't fought since winning last year and that had bad investment written all over it. Sergio Mora and Alfonso Gomez still has deals with them and they also co-promote Peter Manfredo along with CES.

[mh2365]

I still think if they do the HW version they need to go all out to get Arreola since he is huge in LA and also whatever it costs to get Haye .. you want to talk drawing the women viewers in. My wife drools over Haye.

[a87star]

Me and a few friends were discussing this and we thought they should definitely get Arreola and Haye for the HW version. Even Chauncy Welliver would be a nice grab because he's not the most physically gifted fighter but he has a huge fanbase in the Northwest and in Australia/New Zealand.

Would also love to see some of the HW's from NY get an opportunity.....Shannon Miller, Derrick Rossy, and Vinny Maddalone. They wouldn't win the competition but definitely would push the upper tier prospects if they fought.

[mh2365]

It could definitely revive the interest in the HW division.

[a87star]

I think it could generate a lot of interest back into the HW division if they get the right personalities on the show. Haye would be perfect for this because he talks a lot of smack but in the same breath a likeable guy. Welliver is another guy who likes to talk and call people out but he can be a hero to the common man because of his physical limitations.

If they can get enough good HW prospects (that also includes Eastern Europe) and mix a few tough veterans, it would work out very well.

[Romdawg88]

I have no doubt that they have all the fighters on the show locked up on deals. It would make no sense to invest the money into building these guys up on TV and not having them sign and possibly losing them to other promoters after the show ends.

I think Santiago was kept around so long just because the guys cut before him were worse. I knew Les Ralston was gone after they showed his power test, Williams wasn't in shape, and Wells was dead in the water after that reflexes test. They would probably hoping that he could drop down to a more manageable weight like the low 180s or high 170s.

[a87star]

Ralston and Hernandez were too small for SMW. They would have been eaten alive. The thing that baffled me the most was that Santiago only cut seven pounds in three days. If he was even serious about the competition, Santiago should have gotten there in shape.

Neither Williams or Wells never showed anything that could suggest they could compete on a high level again. Anyone who had a that hard of a time with a reflex test needs to find something else to do.

[mh2365]

What are Welliver's physical limitations?

[mh2365]

Another thing .. Mora looked good .. maybe he can beat Ouma ... going to buy that PPV mainly for that fight.

I looked at Kelly and said "Gomez just won at 147 .. he's gonna spar?" and two seconds later he said these guys outweigh me by 20 lbs, I'm just going to watch LOL.

[a87star]

Originally Posted by mh2365

What are Welliver's physical limitations?

He's never been know to stay in shape like a fighter should but for some reason fans love him. He's a very colorful character and if he ever focused on being in shape full time, he would be a tough out for anyone at HW.
He's 23 and does have potential. If ESPN put him on the show next year, it would be a good move.

[hamed]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Another thing .. Mora looked good .. maybe he can beat Ouma ... going to buy that PPV mainly for that fight.

Yes he did, that should be a pretty good fight!

[mh2365]

I was thinking all along that he turned down a title shot and a ton of money for just as tough of a fight .. but maybe he can win it .. with the winner of Pavlik-Taylor more than likely moving up .. maybe it's time to be "down with sergio"

[mh2365]

Too bad the Marquez-Juarez card got cancelled .. I was looking forward to Mora-Ouma

[a87star]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Too bad the Marquez-Juarez card got cancelled .. I was looking forward to Mora-Ouma

Unless that card gets rescheduled, which I can't really see because there really was no one clamoring to see Marquez-Juarez, they probably will not fight. I thought Ouma would have beaten Mora anyway. Nothing against Sergio but he is a little overrated IMO.