The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback - A Preview

It’s almost time for another season of The Ultimate Fighter. Already? Sure, you didn’t expect TNA Impact to survive with The Dudesons as a lead-in, did you? SpikeTV, quickly cottoning on to the fact that any program containing the letters “U” “F” and “C” in succession was a guaranteed ratings hit (reruns of UFC Knockouts shows which have aired dozens of times and have been out on DVD for months besides, beats out most of their roster), ordered another season post-haste, so here we are.

This time will be a little different. In The Ultimate Fighter 4 the UFC will not try to find the best undiscovered fighter – they will try to find the best overlooked fighter. In a season that could be subtitled “Second Chance” or “Best of the Rest” depending on your level of cynicism, 16 fighters – eight welterweights and eight middleweights – with prior UFC experience will go at it, with the prize of a title fight in their respective weight class motivating them. It’s The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback. Inspiring, no?

Each fighter has Ultimate Fighting Championship experience – some recent, some not so recent, some extensive, some barely had time to break a sweat. Either way, one thing is undisputed. These are all tested fighters. It’s a cliché to say that “any of these guys could be in the UFC right now,” but in this case, it’s a solid fact – some have fought just months before now. Whether they’d have success, especially against the champ, is another point entirely. Let’s meet the fighters, shall we? (Thanks to sherdog.com for help with the fighters’ resumes and, more importantly, nicknames)

Welterweights (over 155 pounds to 170 pounds), current champ Matt Hughes:

Mikey “The Eastside Assassin” Burnett, fighting out of Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den with a 5-2 record, doesn’t seem to have had any fights since January of 1999. His first UFC fight was at UFC16, a win in the lightweight tournament against Eugenio Tadeu. Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the tournament due to injuries suffered in this match, ruining plans for the UFC, who put together the tournament specifically for him. At UFC17, he lost to Pat Miletich (who used a strategy of holding Mikey’s trunks, a strategy that was banned following this match), head of the Miletich fighting camp, whose roster is led by welterweight champ Matt Hughes, and came back to defeat Townsend Saunders in Burnett’s final MMA fight at UFC18. Unfortunately, personality conflicts between Burnett and Shamrock with UFC matchmaker John Perotti, as well as problems with alcohol, caused Burnett not to fight in MMA since.

His pre-UFC fights were against no one of interest. At 32 years of age and with over six years since his last fight, to say that the odds are against Burnett would be putting it mildly. Seven years ago, his punching power at 170 pounds was viewed to be heavyweight-level, but that was seven years ago.

Shonie “Mr. International” Carter is quite the veteran at 34 years of age, carrying 66-13-7 record into the competition. He has had five UFC matches, losing to Brad Gumm (UFC24) and Adrian Sarrano (UFC26) before an impressive win over fellow TUF4 fighter Matt Serra at UFC31 with a spinning backhand. You’ve probably seen the end of this fight, as they show it quite often on UFC Unleashed. He didn’t fare so well at UFC32, losing to Pat Miletich. Carter’s most recent fight was just over a year ago at UFC53, losing to Ultimate Fighter 1’s Nate Quarry.

In other fights, Shonie holds a win over Chris Lytle and also suffered a decision loss to Jeremy Jackson. As neither were under UFC rules, of course, one should always take these decisions with a grain of salt.

Rich “No Love” Clementi holds a 23-10-1 record fighting out of the Team Voodoo camp, which, honestly, I’ve never heard of. His lone UFC contest was a loss to Yves Edwards back at UFC41. The only other name I recognize on his resume is fellow Ultimate Fighter Pete Spratt, who defeated Rich in 2001.

Matt “The Terror” Serra is an odd case – he has eight matches in UFC, by far the most of any other contestant. He debuted at UFC31 in the loss mentioned above to Shonie Carter, before going on a run of victories over Yves Edwards (UFC33), Kelly Dulanty (UFC36), and B.J. Penn at UFC39. This last result is particularly impressive, as Penn holds a submission victory over Welterweight champ Matt Hughes.

At UFC41, Matt lost to fellow TUF4 contestant Din Thomas, which makes him the only contestant to have lost to two fellow Ultimate Fighters. Serra then won two decisions in a row, against Jeff Curran (UFC46) and Ivan Menjivar (UFC48), before losing to Karo Prisyan at UFC53, adding up to an overall 13-4 record.

Matt is known as a ground specialist with expert submissions. On one hand, you want to say that his big fight experience gives him the edge, but on the other hand, he’s lost to two fellow cast members. He’s also got, by far, the best nickname. Matt is a member of Serra Jiu-Jitsu, which counts among its members TUF2 finalist and fan favorite Luke Cummo as well as TUF4 Middleweight contestant Pete Sell.

Pete “The Secret Weapon” Spratt holds a 14-7 record, but his fights in the octagon have been more of a mixed bag. He submitted Zach Light at UFC 37.5 (don’t ask) and lost to former champ Carlos Newton at UFC40. He came back to defeat Robbie Lawler at UFC42 due to injury, and lost quickly to TUF1’s Josh Koscheck at the first Ultimate Fight Night. In other federations, Pete holds a win over Rich Clementi and a loss to Chris Lytle.

Pete is an experienced kickboxer with a weakness against anyone with strong submission skills. In other words, he’s absolute toast against the heavy-hitters in the UFC Welterweight division.

Chris Lytle sports a 21-12-5 record, and his rather long history with the UFC is just as much of a mixed bag. He also doesn’t have a nickname, which is just unconscionable in today’s UFC. Chris lost a decision to Ben Earwood at UFC28 and another to Robbie Lawler at UFC45. He bounced back by defeating unknowns Tiki Ghosn (UFC47) and Ronald Jhun (UFC49), but lost the next two, to Karo Parisyan at UFC51 and Joe Riggs (who was himself utterly destroyed by Hughes at UFC56) at UFC55.

As noted above, he holds a win over Pete Spratt and a loss to Shonie Carter. He has losses to UFC fighters Dave Menne, Nick Diaz, and Robbie Lawler. A former pro boxer, Chris seems like the type who could be called “enhancement talent.” He puts on a good fight and has no problem with beating fighters up to a certain level. But when you get to a certain level – UFC semi-main level, in this case – he can go no further. His lack of a nickname isn’t helping, I’m sure!