The seventh season of the groundbreaking MMA reality series The Ultimate Fighter premiers on April 2nd on Spike TV (Wednesdays at 10:00PM). As always, the tournament will consist of sixteen fighters, this time all from the middleweight (185-lbs) weight class. The coaches for this season will be reigning Light Heavyweight (205-lbs) Champion Quentin "Rampage" Jackson and the number one contender for his title, Forrest Griffin. Rumoured contestants: Steve Byrnes (6-1) C.B. Dollaway (6-0) Luke Zachrich (7-1) Prince McLean (4-5) Matt Brown (7-6) Amir Sadollah (0-0) Dante Rivera (10-2) Jeremiah Riggs (1-0) Aaron Meisner (2-0) Mike Marrello (5-1-1) Brandon Sene (2-0) Paul Bradley (5-0) David Roberts (5-7) Timothy Credeur (9-2) Dan Simmler (0-0) Dave Mewborn (4-0-0-1) Jesse Taylor (6-2) Aaron Meisner (2-0) Reggie Orr (4-5-1) Mike Dolce (3-4) Gerald Harris (6-2) UFC President and producer for the show Dana White has announced "major changes" to the format of the show for this season.
I wonder what type of changed Dana is going to make. I love the series, but I've noticed the talent hasn't been as good the last two seasons and there's a lot more guys unwilling to fight when the opportunity comes.
It's gotta be hard to farm for talent after so many series. last season it was a gimmie that Mac was gonna win it all but still it was a good season. I like the changes they have made so far, wonder how different it will be this time.
Another fighter has been added to the rumoured roster, according to mmajunkie. Also, Jacare being on the cast isn't an official rumour, if there ever was one, but just something I heard was possible.
is Jacare offically getting in to MMA? thought he was strictly grappling. NM looked it up, he's got some minor league fights under his belt. he'd have to be a favorite if he was there, so long as his striking is mediocre. would be funny to see him roll with Forrest or Rampage.. p.s. where are you getting the rumors from?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Celtic Fan @ Jan 28 2008, 08:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>p.s. where are you getting the rumors from?</div> MMAJunkie keeps adding to the roster. Matt Brown (Team Gurgel) is the newest possible contestant.
Amir Sadollah (0-0) is the newest name mmajunkie.com has added to their list of potential TUF 7 fighters. Sounds like Sadollah is slated to be the Blake Bowman of the group this year, the inexperienced comedic relief.
Who was that fighter from last season who had injury and wasn't able to participate? Is he getting a chance to be on the new season? He was hilarious. "I want to fight, I don't care, I'm not pussy." hahaha
p.s. found this rumor on the OG for TUG contestants. Mike Marrello, a 29-year-old fighter from Chicago who trains out of Jeff Curran’s camp. Marrello has a pro record of 6-1-1. His last bout was on Dec. 1 where he submitted Ron Fields in 2:48 of the first round at XFO 21. Interesting that it was at XFO 15 where Marrello picked up his draw in a match against…Fields. The loan loss on Marrello’s record is to Terry Davinney on June 30 of 2007 at XFO 18. Luke Zachrich a fighter from the Cincinnati area has been chosen for the cast. Zachrich is a 6'2 Middleweight with a 7-1 pro record. He also fought on the Dec. 1 XFO event and on that night he captured the promotion’s Middleweight championship. Steve Byrnes is a Hawaiian fighter with a 6-1 record in Mixed Martial Arts. His Loan loss was at UFC Fight Night 7 on 12/13/2006. On that show he dropped a Unanimous decision to Logan Clark who currently competes in the WEC. Byrnes is a former Marine who has won all 6 of his fights by submission. A knee injury kept him out of action in 2007. C.B. Dollaway, All-American Wrestler has also been chosen for the cast. Dollaway has a 6-0 record in MMA. He is a former High School State Chmpion, Junior College National Champion and All-American Collegiate wrestler while at Arizona State. You can watch his MMA debut fight (a 17 second victory via slam) on YouTube by clicking here. Dollaway was scheduled to fight for HDNet Fights in December but pulled out with a rib injury. Aaron Meisner is a 29 year-old from the Philadelphia area. He has a 3-0 record with all 3 wins coming in the first round by either KO or TKO. He has fought primarily in the Extreme Challenge promotion in the North East. The total amount of time for all 3 of his fights added up is 5:29. Timothy Credeur (9-2 lost to Chael Sonnen by TKO in Bodog and Joey Villasenor in 2002. Appears to have most wins by submission) a few different names from Speeds sources.. will be interesting to see who actually will be part of the cast. still go 2+ months to go though dangit!
toss in another rumor; from fiveouncesofpain.com <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Exclusive: Dante Rivera believed to be selected for upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” January 28, 2008 By: Sam Caplan Category: Dante Rivera, TUF 7 2 Comments → FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) has learned through several sources close to Dante Rivera that the New Jersey middleweight is involved with the current taping in Las Vegas for the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The 33-year old has a pro record of 10-3 and a documented amateur record of 1-1. The Team Renzo Gracie representative broke onto the national scene in 2007, competing twice for the International Fight League. He lost his IFL debut last February in Atlanta when he submitted in the second round to strikes from Tim Kennedy. Rivera rebounded with a victory for Felix Martinez’s Cage Fury Fighting Championships in June when submitted Alex Aquino with a heel hook at 2:41 of round 2. He then recorded his first-ever victory in the IFL this past August in East Rutherford, N.J. during the undercard of the promotion’s team semifinals. Rivera notched the win when he TKO’d Nissim Levy of Team Tiger Schulman at 1:15 of round 3. Rivera is the third fighter confirmed by FiveOuncesOfPain.com and ProElite.com as having been selected for the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Aaron Meisner of Philadelphia and Mike Marrello of Chicago have been reported as being on the show as well.</div> the rumors are starting to flow!
^ We're really starting to flesh out the roster. Seems like a real onus is being put on homegrown talent.
that's what made me think about Jacare. How's his english, I've never heard him interviewed. Some guys they call brazillian but they've been in North America for a while while others speak little english. Heck even Gonzaga who is in Mass is not fluent with english. They of course want english speaking guys so it's good television.
Well without Jacare we have ten rumoured contestants now, including Jeremiah Riggs, just announced by Junkie.
another name to add to your master list speed <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Brandon Sene latest fighter confirmed for cast of “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ The upcoming seventh season of “TUF” will be no different, as sources have revealed exclusively to ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com) that Gracie Tampa fighter Brandon”Sweet Dreams” Sene has been cast for the Spike TV reality show. Sene joins Alan “Monsta Lobsta” Berube and Matt Arroyo as students of Kahn’s that have been selected for the show. He has a 2-0 pro record, according to Sherdog.com’s fight finder, with wins listed over Jesse Barlong and Ozzy Villanvera. Sene defeated Barlong at World Fighting Championships 4 via first round submission this past July. He returned to action at WCF 5 this past October when he recorded a first round TKO over Villanvera.</div> starting to hear about the less experienced guys making it now..
no, so that means a lot of it is rumor or some fight camps have big mouths. doesn't matter too much to me, I don't recognize any of these guys. the show is still entertaining though
once again more rumors/names <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Exclusive: Paul Bradley expected to be on seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” Two-time All-American wrestler Paul Bradley is currently involved with filming for the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” multiple sources have revealed exclusively to FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com). Bradley is 5-0 as a professional mixed martial artist and has never competed for the UFC. Known as being an “old school wrestler,” the former Iowa Hawkeye wrestled at the collegiate level between 184 pounds and heavyweight. Bradley earned All-American honors competing at 184 pounds as a sophomore and a junior. He was also a three-time NCAA tournament qualifier between 2003-2006. As a sophomore during the 2003-2004 campaign, Bradley not only earned All-American honors but finished second in the Big Ten after going 26-14. He ended the season finishing fourth in the NCAA tournament. As a team, Iowa won the Big Ten championship and finished second in the NCAA tournament. Bradley was a key contributor in the program’s success that year, winning five major decisions and recording six pins. During his junior season in 2004-2005, Bradley went 24-9, earning his All-American honors for a second consecutive season. He finished fourth in the Big Ten Championships that season. In his final season of eligibility in 2005-2006, the senior compiled a 16-10 record. Bradley failed to earn All-American honors but placed in both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments for a third consecutive season. After graduating college, Bradley went right into coaching and has served as a coach for both the University of Indiana (Bloomington) and University of Buffalo. He made his MMA debut in October of 2006, submitting James Powell via guillotine in the first round. Bradley most recently competed for the Masters of the Cage promotion this past September, where he was victorious after TKO’ing Mike Van Neer in the third round. Fellow former college wrestling standouts Johny Hendricks, Shane Roller, Eric Bradley, and Jake Rosholt all appeared on the same card. Bradley has trained in the past at Miletich Fighting Systems in Iowa. Bradley is the fifth fighter confirmed by FiveOuncesOfPain.com and ProElite.com as being cast for TUF 7. Previous names reported include Brandon Sene, Mike Marrello, Aaron Meisner, and Dante Rivera.</div>
