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: Episodes 11 & 12

The last two episodes were aired back to back, and they featured the final four match-ups to decide who makes it to the finale. Stankie more or less remained on the back burner for them, which is just as well, as Junie Browning was there to satisfy the "crazy" quotient.

• Ryan Bader is nonstop excitement and in his bout with Eliot Marshall he showed a wide range of mixed martial arts skills.
• Good Lord am I kidding. That performance was all suck, all the time.
• How well-rounded is Phillipe Nover? After tapping George Roop out with a kimura, he gave Roop a post-fight medical examination in the locker room - and then prescribed him pain medication for his shoulder!
• Krzysztof Soszynski introduced an interesting formula. He stated that one punch turns a jiu-jitsu black belt into a brown belt, and one combination can turn that same fighter into a white belt. What does a kick turn that black belt into? A purple belt? What about a knee to the midsection? A judo throw? An elbow to the jaw?
• I don't know what's worse: Browning's disgraceful actions in the house or Dana White's disgraceful decision to let him stay.
• The episode ended with coach Nogueira shaving coach Mir's head. This little bit of hairstyling coupled with White's "beat him off" comment is why TUF night is huge in gay bars across the nation.

TUF Viewing Party with Phillipe Nover

Once again another season of "The Ultimate Fighter" draws to a close, and once again TUF 8 competitor and rising star Phillipe Nover is having a viewing party. Details can be found at Phillipe's blog here - http://phillipenover.blogspot.com/2008/11/dec-3rd-viewing-party.html . The last one was a blast. Everyone at the Aviation Recreation Center sports bar went bananas when Phillipe was shown eating urine-soaked fruit in that episode, and tonight's episode promises more TUF house shenanigans plus the first-ever decapitation in the Octagon. Wahoo!

TUF 8 Analysis: Episode 8

Another Wednesday night, another TUF 8 episode. Coach Mir grows more and more toolish, Stankie is kept off screen (aside from some crazy, old man gesticulating), and bodily fluids are consumed in "weird German porno" fashion.

• Fruit marinated in urine and sushi coated in man-chowder. Ugh. Why is it that whenever I hype an episode and tell all my friends to watch it, the gay stuff happens? Now everyone is avoiding me.
• Boiled duck fetuses? I guess for Phillipe Nover, fear is definitely not a factor.
• Junie Browning giving out tips on how to beat his teammate Dave Kaplan is only half of what he did. Although it wasn't shown, Browning also let the air out of the tires on Kaplan's dirt bike and ate his pillow.
• Nover hits very hard. So hard, in fact, that not only was Kaplan knocked silly enough to believe he was still the better fighter of the two afterwards, but coach Mir too was concussed into believing Kaplan was superior. I sincerely hope both Kaplan and Mir have since gotten MRIs and brain scans.

Scenes From Phillipe Nover's TUF Screening

The Aviator Recreation Center in Brooklyn played host to Phillipe Nover's TUF 8 episode screening party tonight. In attendance: Nover and a ton of his friends and family, plus jiu-jitsu ace Carmine Zocchi, http://nycfight.com/ founder Eric Joza and a lot of pizza.

TUF 8 Analysis: Episode 6

Last night brought us the sixth episode of the TUF 8 season, and we were treated to Junie Browning finally putting his money where his mouth is, coach Mir being a douche, and... wait for it... wait for it... STANKIE!

• Team Noguiera boxing coach Stankie is the best thing to ever happen to SpikeTV. Shouting "Fight, fight, kill, kill!" was just the tip of the iceberg. I just know he was out in the parking lot afterwards smashing windshields with a tire iron, and I have it on good authority that when the Team Mir van was shuttling the fighters back to the TUF house, Stankie tried to run it off the road with his beat-up 1974 Dodge Charger.
• Browning may never know how close to death he came for spitting on that black belt. Word is that Anderson Silva was mad as hell, and to release some of his anger, went over to one of the hanging bags and kicked it. The bag burst into flames.
• Based on his striking and wrestling ability, there's no question Roli Delgado is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
• Although he snagged the split decision, Browning did not impress with that performance. If he ever fights Phillipe Nover, Nover is going to take his head clean off.

TUF 8 Analysis: Episode 4

Another episode of TUF, another night of drunken mayhem and coach Nogueira's subtitles.

• Junie Browning is an embarrassment to mixed martial arts. Please, PLEASE choke to death on your own vomit Mr. Browning. You're not even worthy enough to die in battle.
• How do you cut a fellow castmate with a glass and threaten others with a bottle and not get thrown off the show? Dana White, you have shamed us all.
• Was Stankie seen dressed up as a Scotsman during one of the training sessions? If so, that's awesome. Coach Nogueira should also bring in circus clowns and jugglers.
• When do we get to see Phillipe Nover knock someone out?

Is the Northeast a Breeding Ground for Badasses?

Dan Miller needed only a minute and a half to choke the hell out of his opponent in his Octagon debut at UFN 15. Mike Massenzio damn near ripped Drew McFedries' arm off at the same event. Phillipe Nover sent his TUF foe packing in impressive fashion, and by all accounts Brian McLaughlin was kicking ass until an illegal knee earned him a win by disqualification. What do Miller, Massenzio, Nover and McLaughlin all have in common? They're the cream of the crop in the New Jersey fight circuit, and after spending years honing their skills in events like Reality Fighting, Ring of Combat, and the now-defunct IFL, they're sharp as hell and experienced enough to win at the highest of levels. For the longest time, MMA hotbeds like the West Coast and the Midwest were cranking out the toughest mixed martial artists, but no longer. Is the Northeast a breeding ground for badasses? With a wealth of shows and talent and solid schools focused on MMA, it sure is now.

TUF 8 Analysis: Episode 1

Last night saw the season eight premiere of "The Ultimate Fighter" on SpikeTV, a season dubbed "Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir" that requires captions whenever the Brazilian coach speaks. Excellent. I think the Zuffa and SpikeTV are prepping viewers for a future season where no one speaks any English and contestants live in a big hut deep in some distant jungle. A few things gleaned from the first episode:

• There are rumors that when the DVD of this season comes out, viewers will be able to remove the blurriness that obscured Jason Guida's junk when he was rolling around in his towel.
• Krzysztof Soszynski is an IFL veteran with an 15-8-1 according to Sherdog.com. Does this guy really need to be on TUF facing noobs like Mike Stewart? I think there's a SpikeTV producer out there pulling the strings, and he's got a very dangerous sense of humor.
• Phillipe Nover fainted not from the heat or dehydration, but because he was in the presence of Dana White. Nover has a history of fainting in the presence of superstars; he was backstage at a Barbara Streisand concert and accidentally ran into Babs herself by the vending machine. Boom! Out cold.
• Why you got to knee Brian McLaughlin in the grill when he's on the ground? Not cool, man. Not cool.
• Junie Browning vs. Jose Aguilar was a battle between the douchebag and the dipshit. The fans lose in these match-ups every single time.

TUF Profile: Phillipe Nover

The eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" debuts on SpikeTV on September 17th, and amidst the motley collection of lightweight and light-heavyweight contestants is one fighter East Coasters know well: Phillipe Nover. Yes, the same heavy-handed Nover who first fought at Reality Fighting five years ago, knocking opponents silly when he wasn't submitting them. Yes, the same Nover who hails from Brooklyn, comes to the cage wielding a sword, and who worked as a nurse at Coney Island Hospital whenever he wasn't wrecking people. Normally a welterweight, Nover looks to be cutting down to lightweight for this show - and unlike the inevitable scrubs the producers put into the TUF house like chum dumped into a shark tank, the man definitely belongs there. Watch out for him.