Our friends over at UFCDaily.com are reporting that Corey Hill is likely to make his UFC debut on October 17. It is believed that a UFC Fight Night telecast on Spike TV has been scheduled for the 10/17 date. No opponent for Hill or a location for the card has been announced.
You can read the report here.
It turns out the reason why Corey Hill is not on next weekend’s live finale for the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter is because he injured his rib while training at the Miletich Fighting Systems training center in Bettendorf, Iowa.
Apparently Hill trained with MFS for a couple months and went back home to his family after getting injured. I’m also told he’s considering his options right now about what camp he wants to train with and where he’ll need to move to do it.
Tonight’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter 5 on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET will feature the final two matches of the quarterfinals with Manny Gamburyan vs. Matt Wiman and Nate Diaz vs. Corey Hill.
I’m really looking forward to the show tonight because after it we’ll know the final four for TUF. Gray Maynard and Joe Lauzon are already in.
I think we’re going to see two matches tonight, as opposed to one, because one of them will end quickly. I think the match that ends quickly will be the one between the two teammates on Jens Pulver’s team, Hill and Diaz (not a spoiler, just a prediction).
I like Corey Hill and think he will become a superstar. But he looked very green in his first fight vs. Rob Emerson. He also doesn’t have a single pro fight under his felt and going against someone as well-rounded as Diaz is going to be too big of a hurdle to clear at this early stage of his career. I think Nate takes it via submission.
Wiman, who is one of three fighters who have fought in the UFC that’s a part of the TUF 5 cast, made quick work of Marlon Sims in a few weeks back. Gamburyan is short, but I was really impressed with his first bout. The dude is an animal. I’m kind of surprise we’re not hearing leaks about this being the fight of the year. This match could really go either way and I expect a war. I’m going with a hunch here and picking Gamburyan in an upset.
I’m assuming that the big plot line for next week’s show will be how the semifinal matches are made. That means we’ll get to see more drama between Jens and B.J. The semis are going to be some awesome matchups.
