Issue 083

December 2011

TUF 14’s PAUL McVEIGH TIPS TJ DILLASHAW FOR SHOW SUCCESS

Fighters Only columnist and Ultimate Fighter 14 cast member Paul McVeigh has picked fellow bantamweight TJ Dillashaw to go far in the series. Paul was eliminated from the show at the 32-man stage by TKO in the third round after a sterling performance, but said he believes Dillishaw has the skill set to go deep into the competition. “He fought with a degree of composure that was lacking in a lot of the fights,” stated Paul, who said he didn’t know who made it to the final. “Plus he’s got a great team behind him (Team Alpha Male) so you know he’s working every day with guys like Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez so I think he’s probably got a good shot.” The Scotland-based strength and conditioning scribe, and praised the quality of the entire show’s cast. 

Paul told FO: “They (the producers) have got the right idea. They haven’t put in characters they’ve put in fighters with character; so they’re great to watch but they’re also very, very seasoned. Everyone in that show was UFC level.”

Viewers of The Ultimate Fighter, which airs on the Spike channel in the US, will remember Paul’s exciting back-and-forth battle with Louis Gaudinot who landed a talked-about and unusual back elbow against the cage that appeared to wobble Paul. Although the 18-6 Cage Warriors regular isn’t sure it did that much damage. “I don’t think that hit me. I think it hit me in the shoulder. I think the left hook was more important.”

Despite not advancing to the show’s final 16, Paul has no regrets. “It was overall a really good experience, a good networking opportunity, I got to hang out with some cool guys and see Las Vegas. And at the end of the day it was a really cracking fight so I was really happy with it.”

ELITEXC ATTEMPTED TO SIGN FEDOR

Controversial founder of the now-defunct EliteXC promotion, Gary Shaw has revealed that his company courted the services of the once sought-after Fedor Emelianenko. Talking to FightHub TV, Shaw, who was originally a boxing promoter, said: “I did try several times to get Fedor to come to EliteXC, but the numbers they were asking, there’s no fighter who was worth that. I wasn’t willing to meet their demands.”

Prior to Emelianenko’s signing with the Affliction fight organization in 2008, the Russian heavyweight was on a 25-fight unbeaten streak and one of the most wanted free agents on the market. Shaw also confirmed the assertions of his one-time opposite number, UFC president Dana White, who has stated on many occasions that Fedor’s management are tough to negotiate with. “I thought M-1 was very difficult to deal with. It wasn’t only Fedor. They wanted to be the co-promoters and the managers and they wanted you to put on so many Russian fighters of theirs on every show. Nobody’s worth that price. Maybe if Fedor would have had the right management from the beginning, he might have been in the UFC and been a huge star.”

SIX DEGREES OF DAN SEVERN

Linking the legendary moustache-wearing UFC Hall of Famer to any fighter in six people or less.

Jason Young

1. Dan Severn was submitted by an armbar from now-Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett in 2000.

2. In 2006 Josh Barnett went 1-1 in decisions for Pride FC against the legendary ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira.

3. Back in 1999, Nogueira fought Valentijn Overeem for the first time, winning with a keylock in the now-defunct Rings promotion.

5. Two years later and several weight classes lower, Pointon returned to England 

from the UFC only to be knocked out by an Abdul Mohamed spinning back-fist at Cage Rage 21.

6. In 2009, Abdul Mohamed lost a majority decision to Jason Young.

2

The UFC will hold two events on the same day for the first time in company history when UFC Japan in February leads in to a US-based pay-per-view event

60%

Lightweight fighters competing against someone six-foot tall or higher will win 60% of the time, found a data analysis blog when assessing fight results