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MLS CUP CHAMPIONS COME TO RFK

D.C. United (3-4-2, 11 points) hopes to remain unbeaten in its three-game MLS May home stand as 2010 MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids (4-3-2, 14 points) come into RFK Stadium following a scoreless draw against the New England Revolution on May 7. United remained unbeaten in two outings last week, after battling FC Dallas to a scoreless draw on Saturday, May 7.

The tie came only four days after defeating Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 on Wednesday, May 4 behind goals from Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff. A victory on Saturday night could see United climb as high as second place in Major League Soccer?s Eastern Conference, as Colorado looks to vault into first place in the Western Conference table with a win.

LAST TIME OUT

Colorado defeated D.C. United 4-1 at Dick?s Sporting Goods Park earlier this season on Sunday, April 3 in League action. The Rapids were the beneficiaries of two goals from newly-signed Caleb Folan. After Folan?s first goal in the 39th minute, United squared the game in the 70th minute on a volley by Santino Quaranta, but Colorado?s Jamie Smith answered immediately with a header that beat goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

Folan then scored his second goal in the 81st minute, followed by an Omar Cummings strike in the 92nd minute to preserve the home victory. Niether Folan or Cummings will play tomorrow, as both are out through injury, leaving Conor Casey as a likely frontline threat for the Rapids. 

LINEUP CHANGES

D.C. United?s current starting lineup looks far different from the lineup that played in the loss to Colorado on April 3. Most notably, United was without the services of current MLS goal leader, Charlie Davies, who missed the first match due to a groin injury, as well as goalkeeper Bill Hamid.

The Black-and-Red?s backline has also changed, as the club has enjoyed strong performances of late from rookie defenders Perry Kitchen and Ethan White, along with veterans Dejan Jakovic and Daniel Woolard. Three of those four did not play in the last Colorado match, as Kitchen was on duty with the U-20 U.S. National Team, Jakovic was suspended, and White was still being implemented into the lineup.

ALL-TIME RESULTS

United is 16-13-6 all-time against Colorado in MLS regular season play, with a significant 10-3-4 advantage at RFK Stadium in those contests. In the all-time series, the Black-and-Red have scored 35 times, while only allowing 15 goals in Washington, D.C.

Gilbert Melendez thinks he's the best lightweight in mixed martial arts. Is he right? I don't think so, not yet. But I sure would love to find out.

The best thing about the UFC buying Strikeforce is that it means we'll eventually see the champions of the respective promotions fighting each other. For now the mantra is "business as usual," but we all know it's just a matter of time before we see the best of Strikeforce inside the Octagon. And there might not be a better fight out there than Melendez taking on the top of the UFC lightweight division.

It will probably be 2012 before we get to see that: UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar has to fight Gray Maynard in May, and the winner of that fight is expected to fight the winner of the June Anthony Pettis-Clay Guida bout after that. But it sure would be fun to see Melendez retiring the Strikeforce belt to his trophy case and fighting for the UFC gold.

Find out where I think Melendez stacks up in the lightweight division below.

(Editor's Note: The fighter's rankings the last time we ranked the lightweights are in parentheses.)

1. Frankie Edgar (1): The UFC champion remains at the top of the heap at least until he fights Gray Maynard at UFC 130. The third meeting between the two will, I hope, tell us once and for all which one of them is really the superior fighter.

2. Gray Maynard (2): Maynard could certainly make the argument that he actually deserves to be ranked ahead of Edgar, since Maynard beat Edgar the first time these two fought. I'll stick with Edgar for now because Edgar's overall lightweight resume is more impressive, but these two are basically equals.

3. Gilbert Melendez (4): Now that Melendez has destroyed Tatsuya Kawajiri, I think he's behind only the UFC lightweight champion and No. 1 contender. I love watching Melendez because he's so active and tenacious: He took the fight to Kawajiri and showed off a great killer instinct in finishing him with the recently legalized elbows to the head on the ground. The question now is whether any lightweights on the Strikeforce roster can even be viewed as credible threats to Melendez, or if he's going to have to start fighting guys in the UFC.

4. Kenny Florian (3): For now, I'd pick Florian to beat just about any lightweight in the sport. But Florian has lost two lightweight title fights and doesn't appear close to getting a third chance, so he plans to drop down to featherweight and pursue the belt there. When he does move down to featherweight, I'll take him down the lightweight list -- and I expect him to quickly rise up the featherweight ranks.

5. Shinya Aoki (5): There really wasn't any question that Aoki would make quick work of Lyle Beerbohm, but there are a lot of questions about Aoki's future: Will he stay with Strikeforce and keep fighting second-rate opponents? Will he go back to Japan and try to be a part of revitalizing the MMA scene in his homeland? Will he finally step into the Octagon?

6. Jim Miller (8): It's time for Miller to take a major step up in competition: His 20-2 record consists of wins against a bunch of guys who aren't even close to the Top 10, and losses to the two best in the world, Edgar and Maynard. Ideally I'd love to see Miller against Melendez or Aoki, but if we're not going to get UFC-Strikeforce crossover fights yet, Miller probably will continue fighting overmatched opponents outside the Top 10.

7. Eddie Alvarez (7): The Bellator champ is a lot of fun to watch, but it's going to be awfully tough for him to move up in the rankings as long as he remains in Bellator, which just doesn't have any elite opposition for him to face. Alvarez may have the talent to beat anyone at 155 pounds, but he's probably going to have to sign with the UFC if he wants to prove it.

8. Anthony Pettis (10): The thing that's so exciting about Pettis is that he's doing so many new things at such a young age. It's not just the "Showtime Kick," although that's obviously what he's best known for: It's a combination of creative striking and an aggressive ground game, especially off his back, that makes Pettis different from any other fighter in the lightweight division. The 24-year-old Pettis is the youngest fighter on this list and is only getting better.

9. Clay Guida (NR): Guida has always been a fan favorite because of his brawling style, but it's been somewhat overlooked that his technique, especially on the ground, has noticeably improved in the last year. Guida is now on a three-fight winning streak, and if he makes it four in a row against Pettis, a title shot could be next.

10. Tatsuya Kawajiri (9): Kawajiri has had some great wins in his MMA career, but he was simply no match for Melendez. At age 32, he appears to be on the down side of his career, but there are still some fun fights for him: I'd still love to see a rematch of the classic 2005 Pride fight between Kawajiri and Takanori Gomi.

Saturday night's Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley card was the first major event on Showtime since the UFC purchased Strikeforce, and it was a good opportunity to see how Showtime would handle its MMA broadcasts now that the premium cable channel is in business with a promotion that had previously been a rival.

Overall, I thought Showtime did a solid job of handling the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce. But once it was time for the fighters to step into the cage, the coverage of Saturday night's biggest controversy -- the Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine draw -- left something to be desired.

Let's start with the good: Showtime handled the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce appropriately by tackling it at the outset. It's a major story that deserved the upfront treatment it got.

Mauro Ranallo interviewed Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker and asked him the right questions, and although I would have liked to see Ranallo interview both Coker and UFC President Dana White (who was also in attendance), Ranallo got Coker to talk about the same thing MMA fans want to talk about: Big fights between Strikeforce fighters and UFC fighters, like a clash of heavyweight champions Alistair Overeem and Cain Velasquez.

Ranallo could have pressed Coker for more specifics on when we can expect to see Strikeforce vs. UFC fights, and whether there are contractual issues that could make it tough for those fights to take place. I also thought it was odd that Showtime was asking fans to answer via text messages whether they want to see UFC vs. Strikeforce fights, as if it wasn't obvious that that's exactly what the fans want -- 96 percent answered yes. But in general, I respect Showtime for tackling the biggest news story first.

The biggest problem with the Showtime broadcast was the handling of the Mousasi-Jardine draw. Mousasi's illegal kick to Jardine's face was pivotal, and Showtime should have shown the replay several times, from multiple angles, and addressed how Mousasi's point deduction led to the draw.

But immediately following the kick, instead of going over a replay, Gus Johnson asked Frank Shamrock and Ranallo, "Can you give us an idea of the new rules now that this promotion is under new management?" That was a bad question to ask under any circumstances (there's only one new rule, which is that elbows and forearms to the head on the ground are now allowed), but a particularly bad question to ask at that precise moment because it implied that Mousasi's kick was illegal because the UFC has changed the rules in Strikeforce. In reality, kicks to the head of a grounded opponent have long been banned in both Strikeforce and the UFC.

When the result (one judge scoring it 29-27 for Mousasi and two judges scoring it 28-28) was announced, Showtime's broadcast should have gone back to the point deduction from the illegal kick and discussed how significant that was. Instead, we heard Ranallo, with outrage in his voice, saying, "With all due respect to Keith Jardine, there was no way he won this fight." But no one was suggesting that Jardine won the fight. The question is whether Jardine won one round, which, along with the point deduction, was enough to earn a draw. None of the commentators ever even approached the subject of whether Jardine deserved to win one round, which is all he needed to do to earn a draw with a point deduction.

The viewers also should have been given better technical analysis during the Mousasi-Jardine fight. Mousasi's biggest flaw -- his lack of takedown defense -- is just as clearly evident now as it was in his loss to King Mo Lawal a year ago, and I would have liked to hear Shamrock, as the expert analyst, provide a more thorough explanation of why such a talented fighter hasn't been able to improve such a glaring weakness.

And while Mousasi and Jardine stood and exchanged strikes, Ranallo said, "Both guys are decent kickboxers." In reality, Mousasi is a great -- not "decent" -- kickboxer who has defeated high-level K-1 opposition. On the other hand, describing Jardine's awkward style of kickboxing as "decent" is being overly generous.

So while the proper handling of the UFC-Strikeforce acquisition was the high point in the broadcast, those issues during the Jardine-Mousasi fight were the low point. A mixed bag came in the way the Showtime announcers talked about how Strikeforce's fighters fit within the UFC-dominated MMA world.

Johnson did a good job of handling his in-cage interviews following Gilbert Melendez's impressive victories: He got Melendez to talk about unifying the Strikeforce lightweight title with the UFC lightweight title, which is something fans want to see, and he also spoke with Melendez's cornerman Jake Shields, asking Shields about his upcoming fight with UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Unfortunately, Johnson later made a ridiculous suggestion that a good UFC-Strikeforce crossover fight would be Anderson Silva vs. Cung Le. That fight would not be competitive.

Most people expect that as soon as the Strikeforce-Showtime contract runs out, Zuffa will no longer do business with Showtime. I'm personally hoping that Showtime stays in the MMA business, because Showtime has the ability to offer an independent perspective on the action outside the cage. I'd just like to see Showtime improve its analysis of the action inside the cage.

Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren won a controversial unanimous decision over Marcos Galvao on Saturday night in Yuma, Arizona, with all three judges seeing the fight differently than nearly every member of the MMA media saw it.

Particularly surprising about the decision was that judge Chuck Wolfe scored the bout 30-27 for Warren: Not only did Wolfe score the first and third rounds for Warren, as did his fellow judges, but Wolfe also gave Warren the second round, even though almost everyone else watching thought that round was decidedly Galvao's.

Although Wolfe declined to go into a detailed blow-by-blow account of the second round, he defended his scorecard and his decision, saying on Tuesday morning that he thought all three rounds in the fight were close, and that in close rounds, something relatively minor can be the difference in a 10-9 score.

"It could be one takedown different, it could be one punch different, it could be one kick different, it could be one attempted submission different," Wolfe said.

Wolfe said he wasn't aware that his scoring of the fight had caused a controversy in the MMA community, and he said that as a judge he can't be concerned about how fans or the media view his decisions. He also said that his background as a professional kickboxer and his knowledge of MMA gives him insight that surpasses that of the average fan watching at home.

"I've judged and refereed since the beginning of the sport, I've been head official for over 600 different bouts," Wolfe said. "If you want to question my credentials, I think I have way more than anyone out there to be qualified to judge. I know fans get disappointed, but I don't think you're going to have Joe Warren fans complain about how the decision went."

Wolfe acknowledged that Galvao landed some significant strikes in the fight, but he said nothing Galvao did was enough to justify giving him any of the three rounds.

"Did he damage Warren in that fight? Yeah, he did, for a short period of time," Wolfe said. "I remember the bout very clearly. When they are close rounds there's one thing or maybe two things that might put someone ahead. ... You can grade it 10-10 but you might as well not be there if you're not going to score someone to win the round."

Bellator promoter Bjorn Rebney said after the fight that he found Wolfe's 30-27 score for Warren hard to understand, but the judges work independently of the promoters. Bellator 41 took place at a resort owned by the Cocopah Indian Tribe, and Wolfe and the other judges were hired by the Potawatomi Athletic Commission. Wolfe noted that the tribal commission follows the standard procedures employed by state athletic commissions, including telling the judges to watch the fights with their naked eyes. Judges are not provided with TV monitors, which means they're seeing the fight from a different vantage point than the fans at home.

"There are a lot of things that a fan will cheer about outside the cage, but each judge has a different viewpoint and a different angle," Wolfe said. "Unfortunately, judges don't have a replay, don't have a rewind, they just have to judge by what they see."

Ultimately, Wolfe said, if Galvao isn't happy with the decision he should look in the mirror, not at the judges.

"He had three rounds to take Warren out if he really wanted to beat him -- he had three rounds to dominate Warren, as well as Warren had three rounds to dominate him," Wolfe said. "It's up to the fighter. ... Don't leave it in the hands of the judges, especially when it's a close fight."

MLS CUP CHAMPIONS COME TO RFK

D.C. United (3-4-2, 11 points) hopes to remain unbeaten in its three-game MLS May home stand as 2010 MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids (4-3-2, 14 points) come into RFK Stadium following a scoreless draw against the New England Revolution on May 7. United remained unbeaten in two outings last week, after battling FC Dallas to a scoreless draw on Saturday, May 7.

The tie came only four days after defeating Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 on Wednesday, May 4 behind goals from Charlie Davies and Josh Wolff. A victory on Saturday night could see United climb as high as second place in Major League Soccer?s Eastern Conference, as Colorado looks to vault into first place in the Western Conference table with a win.

LAST TIME OUT

Colorado defeated D.C. United 4-1 at Dick?s Sporting Goods Park earlier this season on Sunday, April 3 in League action. The Rapids were the beneficiaries of two goals from newly-signed Caleb Folan. After Folan?s first goal in the 39th minute, United squared the game in the 70th minute on a volley by Santino Quaranta, but Colorado?s Jamie Smith answered immediately with a header that beat goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

Folan then scored his second goal in the 81st minute, followed by an Omar Cummings strike in the 92nd minute to preserve the home victory. Niether Folan or Cummings will play tomorrow, as both are out through injury, leaving Conor Casey as a likely frontline threat for the Rapids. 

LINEUP CHANGES

D.C. United?s current starting lineup looks far different from the lineup that played in the loss to Colorado on April 3. Most notably, United was without the services of current MLS goal leader, Charlie Davies, who missed the first match due to a groin injury, as well as goalkeeper Bill Hamid.

The Black-and-Red?s backline has also changed, as the club has enjoyed strong performances of late from rookie defenders Perry Kitchen and Ethan White, along with veterans Dejan Jakovic and Daniel Woolard. Three of those four did not play in the last Colorado match, as Kitchen was on duty with the U-20 U.S. National Team, Jakovic was suspended, and White was still being implemented into the lineup.

ALL-TIME RESULTS

United is 16-13-6 all-time against Colorado in MLS regular season play, with a significant 10-3-4 advantage at RFK Stadium in those contests. In the all-time series, the Black-and-Red have scored 35 times, while only allowing 15 goals in Washington, D.C.

Ramsey Nijem stepped into the cage and won his fight against Charlie Rader on this week's episode of The Ultimate Fighter, using his solid wrestling base to control Rader, take him down and finish him with a rear-naked choke.

But this week's episode of the UFC's reality show focused almost as much on Nijem's personality outside the cage, where his habits -- including painting his toenails and watching Glee -- make him something very different from the stereotypical cage fighter.

In his weekly interview with MMAFighting.com, Nijem talked about his victory over Rader, shed a little more light on his personality outside the cage, and shared his thoughts on advancing to the next round of this season's Ultimate Fighter tournament.

Michael David Smith: How did you feel about the matchup when Junior told you he was picking you to fight Charlie Rader?
Ramsey Nijem: I was really confident. Junior was really confident and everyone on my team was. I was excited to go out and put on a show. I really thought I could finish the fight and I was happy be the first one on this season to finish a fight.

You were pressing him against the cage in the early going and then looking for a takedown. Was that your game plan?
Yeah, [assistant coach Lew Polley] really wanted us to wrestle. It was kind of boring at the beginning to put him on the fence and keep him there. I'm usually a more fun fighter to watch than that. But as soon as we hit the ground my plan was to get his back and choke him out, like what happened. I wasn't worried about him because I knew I could take him down.

Once you took Charlie's back on the ground you got the rear-naked choke in quickly. Is that a signature move of yours?
I think it would be any wrestler's signature move. it's not a hard move to pull off, especially since I'm good at back control. I'm good at grinding guys and eventually the choke will come -- it was easy.

You didn't seem to have much trouble with Charlie, but you looked like you were breathing hard afterward. Was cardio an issue, or was bronchitis still affecting you?
I was still a little sick. I was congested and not really feeling good, so I think that's what it was. I also think sometimes people don't realize how exhausting it is to jostle for position against the fence like that -- it might look boring but it's really tiring to wrestle for control on the cage.

Both Dana White and Brock Lesnar said they were disappointed in Charlie and thought he quit. Did you feel that way?
Once I had the choke in he quit and tapped out right away. I don't know what else he could have done, but I guess Dana would have liked him to fight a little more. But it was just a matter of time before I won the fight.

After the fight Lesnar said he saw the look in your eyes like you knew you were going to win, and he looked in Charlie's eyes and didn't see that confidence. Did you notice that?
Yeah, Charlie did look a little flat and tired, like he didn't want to be there. He was talking beforehand about how he really wanted the fight but sometimes people say that when they don't really want the fight.

We also learned more about you in the house. Guys were making fun of you for painting your toenails and watching Glee. What was that about?
I'm a quirky, weird dude. I've accepted that. I started painting my toenails as a tribute to John Hackleman, one of my coaches, because he does that. And I love the show Glee. It's an entertaining show. A lot of guys in our profession feel that they need to be hard asses all the time, but I like singing and dancing and having fun and being happy. That's the kind of show I like.

There was actually a segment on The Daily Show just last week in which Jon Stewart mentioned that Chuck Liddell paints his toenails. You're in good company.
That's Hackleman -- he got Liddell to paint his toenails. At first I didn't want to do it but Hackleman got me to do it too. But now that I've given it a try, I like getting pedicures. Me and my girlfriend will do it together, go out and get a pedicure and see a movie.

At the end of this episode, you had advanced to the next round of the tournament. Were you starting to think about who you might fight next?
Mostly I was just trying to get more comfortable, more acclimated to living in the house and more acclimated to the way we do things in the gym -- being on the show is a lot different than being at home and having a normal training camp before a fight. I felt like I performed well, but I wasn't really myself yet, and I was just looking forward to doing better, whoever I would fight in the next round.

(Editor's note: Ramsey Nijem will join us each week during Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter to share his thoughts on that week's episode. Follow Ramsey on Twitter @RamseyNijem.)

WASHINGTON ? A second-half penalty kick from D.C. United?s Chris Pontius canceled out Drew Moor?s first-half goal, as United battled back for a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.

The result means the Rapids finish a three-game road swing with a win and two draws. United, meanwhile, also stretched a recent unbeaten run to three games.

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The Rapids entered the match missing several injured forwards, including Omar Cummings and Caleb Folan.  The return to fitness of Conor Casey, though, gave them optimism. The big striker started on the bench after missing several matches, and came on late in the second half.

The regular D.C. frontline of Josh Wolff and Charlie Davies looked active early. The former nearly sent the latter in on goal in the 10th minute. But Davies? touch let him down, as the Colorado defense bent without breaking.

Their sternness set the scene for the opening goal from Moor in the 23rd minute. Jamie Smith?s in swinging delivery from the left side wasn?t cleared by D.C.?s defense, and Moor pounced on the loose ball, sliding a shot past United goalkeeper Bill Hamid.

As D.C. struggled to get back into the game, coach Ben Olsen was forced to sub out his starting forward line before the half was out. Davies and Wolff both picked up injuries, and Santino Quaranta and Joseph Ngwenya came on in their place.

Ngwenya?s speed proved to be mettlesome for the Rapids defense. Early in the second half, he carried the ball into Colorado?s box and as he lined up his shot, he was dragged down by Rapids midfielder Jeff Larentowicz. Referee Terry Vaughn, however, waved play on.

D.C. continued the pressure, and their efforts were rewarded in the 62nd minute.

Working on the far left side of the Colorado area, Pontius collided with Rapids defender Kosuke Kimura. Both players went down, and this time Vaughn pointed to the spot.

With normal United penalty taker Davies off the field, Pontius stepped up and beat Pickens to level the score at 1-1.

A gritty and physical encounter unraveled over the game?s final 30 minutes, and both sides had chances to win it.

In the 87th minute, Rapids? substitute Sanna Nyassi?s cross was tipped by D.C. defender Dejan Jakovic, but it fell right to Wells Thompson, who blasted his shot way over at the top of the box.

In stoppage time, United nearly earned all three points but Ngwenya fired wide after Pickens made a good save from a Pontius effort.

D.C. now have a two-week break from league play before facing off with the Portland Timbers on Sunday, May 29. They take on Dutch side Ajax in a friendly next Saturday.

The Rapids return home to play Toronto FC on Sunday, May 22.

LINEUPS

D.C. UNITED: Hamid; Kitchen, White, Jakovic, Woolard; Najar, Simms (Fred 80'), McCarty (c), Pontius; Wolff (Ngwenya 44'), Davies (Quaranta 34')

Unused substitutes: Brettschneider, Burch, Korb, Cronin

Colorado Rapids: Pickens; Kimura, Marshall, Wynne; Moor, Thompson (LaBauex 94'), Larentowicz, Mastroeni; Smith, Akpan (Nyassi 75'), Amarikwa (Casey 67')

Unused substitutes: Ceus, Earls, Palguta, Nane

BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY:
Colorado Rapids - Drew Moor 23'
D.C. United - Chris Pontius 62' (PK) | VIDEO

SHOTS:
D.C. United - 11
Colorado Rapids - 7

SHOTS ON GOAL:
D.C. United - 4
Colorado Rapids - 2

SAVES:
D.C. United - 1
Colorado Rapids - 3

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
Drew Moor - caution 45'
Matt Pickens 92'

FOULS:
D.C. United - 15
Colorado Rapids - 7

Referee: Terry Vaughn
Assistants: Steven Taylor, Jason Cullum
4th official: Daniel Fitzgerald

Attendance: 12,499

On this week's episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Junior dos Santos had some trouble in the ranks of his coaching staff, and he had to reprimand his assistant, Lew Polley, for pushing his fighters too hard in practice.

Ramsey Nijem, a member of Team Dos Santos, said in his weekly interview with MMAFighting.com that he was glad dos Santos said something, because Polley had been taking his intense coaching style to extreme lengths.

Nijem also discussed the new member of Team Dos Santos and this week's fight between Len Bentley and Ryan McGillivray, and he offered an interesting preview of his own (not quite) nude scene in next week's episode. The full interview is below.

Michael David Smith: On last week's show Keon Caldwell left, and this week Justin Edwards replaced him on Team Dos Santos. What did you think of your new teammate?
Ramsey Nijem: At first I thought he was Little Randy Couture, because he looks just like Randy. But Justin got there the first day, jumped right in and was in shape and ready to work. We were excited to have him on our team because Keon wasn't in great shape and it was good to have a teammate who could push us in practice.

We saw some tension between Junior and Lew Polley, and you were shown saying you thought Lew had crossed the line into pushing you guys too hard.
Yeah, Lew is a real emotional guy, and sometimes he acts like he has something to prove to everybody. I think he wanted to show us how much he could push us. I didn't feel like I needed to prove anything, but he was yelling at us a lot and not real positive. That was kind of frustrating, and we all talked to Junior and told him we didn't really like it.

Brock Lesnar chose Len Bentley from his team to fight Ryan McGillivray from your team. What did you think of the matchup?
I really thought Len was overrated from the beginning. I thought Ryan was going to beat him, and he did. I thought it would be a scrap because they're both scrappy guys, but Ryan I thought had great jiu jitsu, and I had trained with Len and all he does is shoot in and throw wild punches. There's nothing about Len that would make you scared to fight him, whereas Ryan has good boxing and that good counter-hook you saw him rock Len with.

Ryan had to sweat off 10 pounds before the weigh-in. Was making weight a big concern with the guys in the house?
Ryan was the biggest dude in the house, and I don't think he knew a lot about good nutrition, and he also hadn't wrestled and didn't have much experience cutting weight. That made it hard on him and he struggled getting down.

Is making weight an issue for you?
Not really. I walk around at 180, 179 when I'm training hard and I thought it was kind of an advantage that I could make weight without really trying too hard. I've usually fought at 155, which is a huge cut for me.

Do you think you'll ever move back down to lightweight?
I don't think so -- 155 is a real tough weight class. I actually think 170 is probably where I'll be.

The commercial for next week's show makes it look like you're a big part of it. Anything you want to give away?
Well, let's just say that when it looks on TV like I'm naked, I wasn't really naked.

(Editor's note: Ramsey Nijem will join us each week during Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter to share his thoughts on that week's episode. Follow Ramsey on Twitter @RamseyNijem.)