TUF 13 tryouts draw some notables
MMAjunkie.com attended the eight-hour session, which took place in Las Vegas at the Red Rock Resort & Casino’s Summerlin Ballroom….
MMAjunkie.com attended the eight-hour session, which took place in Las Vegas at the Red Rock Resort & Casino’s Summerlin Ballroom. A total of 202 welterweights and 96 middleweights were vying for a spot on the Spike TV-broadcast reality series.
All contestants were put through a battery of grappling and striking drills as White, UFC vice president of talent relations Joe Silva and Spike TV senior vice president Brian Diamond.
Galvao, of course, is a seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion who made his mixed martial arts debut in August 2008. Galvao went on to a 1-1 record under the Japanese-based DREAM organization before transitioning to Strikeforce, where the welterweight prospect went 2-1 in 2010.
Meanwhile, Amoussou is a 25-year-old middleweight Frenchman who in July suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Kazuhiro Nakamura under the DREAM banner. Prior the the defeat, the eight-time M-1 Global veteran fought to a technical draw with Trevor Prangley under the Strikeforce banner.
Additional notable middleweights taking their chances for a shot on “The Ultimate Fighter 13” include Bellator and Strikeforce veteran Zak Cummings (12-2), 42-year-old WEC vet Ariel Gandulla (5-6), “TUF 9” contestant Frank Lester (4-4), Bellator, Showtime and EliteXC vet Robert “Bubba” McDaniel (15-6), “TUF 7” cast member Jeremiah Riggs (3-5), recent Strikeforce Challengers headliner Louis Taylor (6-2) and Wand Fight Team’s Vitor Vianna (10-1-1).
Noteworthy welterweight fighters trying out included Levi “The Marine” Avera (15-7), Strikeforce and King of the Cage veteran Shamar Bailey (10-3), WEC and EliteXC vet Muhsin Corbbrey (8-6), two-time WEC fighter James Krause (11-3), Wand Fight Team’s Jorge Lopez (7-1), four-time IFL veteran Bristol Marunde (12-6), Bellator season-one vet Estevan Payan (9-3), two-time Bellator fighter Charlie Rader (13-3), three-time Bellator vet Tyler Stinson (18-7) and three-time WEC veteran Dave “The Bionic” Terrel (6-4).
