MMAVu

Well, I didn’t see this one coming. We reported a few months back that UFC President Dana White offered young Kimbo a job. Sorta. Lo and behold, Dana White has confirmed that Kimbo Slice will indeed be a contestant on the next season of the Ultimate Fighter. Whillickers.

The coaches for season 10 are Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans, two Grade A trash talkers. Throw any combo of those two and Kimbo Slice and that equals instant ratings. I’m dying, really dying, to see how a big star (he’s got his own video game, endorsements, commercials, etc.) like Kimbo deals with getting confined for 6 weeks inside a house with 15 meatheads. Despite his looks, Kimbo seems like a genuinely nice guy in interviews and is quite articulate and soft spoken. None of the other 15 guys have been named thus far, but it doesn’t matter. Kimbo is the draw here.

Though White has poked fun at Kimbo in the past, it’s obvious Kimbo is willing to let bygones be bygones for the sake of business. Besides, it wasn’t Kimbo’s fault Elite XC made him the face of their promotion, and made him headliner before he was ready.

Season 10

…and Lyoto Machida isn’t one of them.

The two opposing coaches for TUF 10: Fat Bastards…er, Heavyweights, are Quinton Jackson…and Rashad Evans. Apparently Rampage had the option of choosing to fight for the title, or Evans, and he chose Evans. Say what?

Since when do fighters get to choose who gets on TV with them? And since when does one pass up a title shot? Methinks he is avoiding Machida.

One positive from this, is that the light heavyweight title won’t be put on hold for 7 months as the show films and runs its course, a la Matt Hughes/Matt Serra on TUF 6. Machida could surely have used the show to raise his profile though. Alas, there’s always TUF 11 and maybe his english will be better by then, as that was also likely a concern, showcasing a man who could not speak english very well.

In the meantime, Machida’s next contender is to be determined, since Jackson voluntarily vacated the slot. Mauricio Rua is a possibility, as is Forrest Griffin. Griffin however, has to get by Machida’s good friend Anderson Silva first at UFC 101. If he doesn’t, Silva won’t fight Machida (or so they say…$$$) and we’re back to Rua as the most likely, though not necessarily deserving, contender.