Who Should Phillipe Nover Fight Next?

Yeah, Brooklyn mauler and TUF 8 star Phillipe Nover lost at the finale and Efrain Escudero is "The Ultimate Fighter". Big whoop. But much-ballyhooed six-figure contract notwithstanding, Nover is a still a "name", and a tough and dangerous competitor that the UFC will put back into the Octagon as soon as possible. So who should the man dubbed the next Anderson Silva and GSP fight next? The easy answer is fellow TUF alum Junie Browning (to drag out whatever TUF 8 story lines they can). Yet if matchmaker Joe Silva stays true to form, which dictates that the traditional post-TUF opponent is someone who plays towards that TUFer's strengths, then Nover will get someone he can punch in the face. In this instance, that could be:

1. Rich Clementi
2. David Baron
3. Rob Emerson
4. Spencer Fisher
5. Melvin Guillard
6. Roger Huerta
7. Aaron Riley
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Sam Stout

This list is by no means all there is to choose from, but these are all people under contract with the UFC, and I could see each and every one of them trying to throw a strike before realizing taking Nover down and laying on him is the way to go. Who will Joe Silva pick? Time will tell.

Observations from My Couch: TUF 8 Finale

• Is it me or did Dave Kaplan look like the late Evan Tanner's miniature clone?
• Admittedly, Junie Browning did show a lot of skill and talent. As long as he's not acting like a douchebag, he's actually kind of likable.
• Wilson Gouveia TKO'd the heck out of Jason MacDonald - a feat made less impressive by the fact that Gouveia failed to make weight. That five-pound weight difference really is an unfair advantage. I mean, anyone can knock anyone out when they weigh five pounds more.
• Anthony Johnson's knockout of Kevin Burns was indeed sweet justice, but when he knelt over the fallen Burns and carved out his eyeball with a pocket knife... I'm sorry,but that was excessive.
• I was deathly afraid that Ryan "The Human Blanket" Bader was going to show up. I was pleased that it was Ryan "The Punch People in the Head So Hard They Do Cartwheels" Bader that we all got to see.
• Efrain Escudero fought a smart fight against Phillipe Nover. Nover will be back. No doubt about it.

Five Reasons Why Phillipe Nover Will Beat Efrain Escudero

TUF 8 finalists Phillipe Nover and Efrain Escudero will duke it out tomorrow night at the TUF finale on SpikeTV, which will determine who is this season's Ultimate Fighter and who will be relegated to mowing Dana White's lawn on the weekends for extra cash. In light of White and coach Nogueira's high praise, which was lavished on the Brooklyn native once he started clobbering foes in the Octagon like the Fantastic Four's "Thing" clobbers run-of-the-mill bank robbers, does the undefeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Escudero stand a chance? Um, unless Nover slips on a banana peel on his way to the cage, the answer is "no". Here are five reason why Nover will win:

1. Not only was Nover recently awarded his jiu-jitsu black belt by Alexandre "Soca" Freitas, but he was issued a license to kill by Her Majesty's Secret Service and was made an honorary Power Ranger.
2. According to the prophecy, "No man born of Earth can harm the one they call Phillipe Nover".
3. The movie "Cloverfield" was inspired by the night Nover went out in Manhattan, had a little too much to drink and toppled three office buildings.
4. Nover got over his allergy to Kryptonite a long time ago. Now it just tastes bitter.
5. Nover has superpowers. Escudero does not.

TUF 8 Analysis: Episode 5

The fifth episode of TUF 8 saw a lot less alcohol consumption, a lot more of coach Nogueira speaking incoherently, and a quick fight between two light-heavyweights who belong in the minor leagues fighting for a cheap and tacky belt and bragging rights at the local Hooters.

• Junie Browning jumps the cage and threatens Efrain Escudero after Escudero's win. His punishment for this shameful outburst? Dana White shaking his head disapprovingly while simultaneously salivating over his new ticking time bomb/potential ratings goldmine. Frank Mir, please eat this guy already!
• The more I see Stankie stumbling around mumbling like that drunk Vietnam veteran uncle who everyone avoids at family gatherings, the more I like him. I predict the TUF kids are going to wake up one morning and find Stankie passed out on the lawn. That's just a hunch.
• Anderson Silva's guest appearance and subsequent sparring with the TUF kids made me think of a child casually batting around his GI Joe action figures. Only in that scenario, Silva would be the child's parent, and the TUF kids would be the discarded cardboard boxes the action figures came in.
• Coach Nogueira was very endearing going to the TUF house and asking the guys to lay off the pranks. He strikes me as the type of parent that shows up at school asking the bullies to please stop stuffing his son in a locker. Sadly, that always ends up with the son getting stuffed into a trash can instead.