B/R's Ultimate Fighter Season 10 Fantasy Challenge

With The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 coming up in just a few weeks and due to the amount of interest generated towards this particular season I figured it would be fun to set up a fantasy game to follow the series and the ongoing 16-man heavyweight tournament.

This game is open to anyone who is willing to participate and you don’t even have to be a Bleacher Report member to enter in either.

The rules of the competition are simple, there will be approximately 16 heavyweights competing on this show and throughout the season those 16 will be gradually broken down each round until there are two fighters left to compete in The Ultimate Finale.

There will be four rounds total, a preliminary round, a quarter final, a semi final and a final.

Your goal will be to pick which fighters will advance in each round and you will earn points for every correct pick.

If a fighter you have selected wins his first fight you will earn a total of two points, if he wins his quarterfinal fight you earn four points, if he wins his semi final bout that will earn you another six points and if he wins the final fight you earn 12 points.

The total number of points will be added up depending on how many fighters you choose to advance each round correctly. The winner will be the participant holding the most points at the end of the season finale. In the case of a tie a tie-breaker will be determined before the TUF finale.

You will post your picks for:

Top Eight (the fighters who will win their first fight)
Top Four (the fighters that advance to the quarterfinals)
Top Two (the fighters that advance to the semi finals)
The Ultimate Fighter (The fighter that has won the competition)

To enter this competition all you have to do is reply to this article with your picks. If you are not a member of Bleacher Report you can also enter this contest by emailing me at [e-mail] with your picks as well.

There will also be an opportunity for you to gain bonus points each week as well which will be noted at the end of each blog.

Here is the official cast for The Ultimate Fighter Season 10: The Heavyweights, courtesy of MMAJunkie.com:

• Zak Jensen (11-2): The 6' 4", 265-pound 26-year-old Jensen was a collegiate wrestler and football player at Northern Illinois University and Augsburg College. After college, he found success in "Tough Man" competitions and Golden Gloves competitions and eventually made the move to MMA in 2007.
• Marcus Jones (4-1): The 6' 6", 260-pound 35-year-old Jones is the most prolific of the show's NFL quartet. While playing defensive end at the University of North Carolina, Jones was an All-American and the 1995 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and became the 1996 first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After eight successful years in the NFL, he joined Gracie Tampa and made the transition to MMA.
• Scott Junk (6-2): The 6' 1", 265-pound 30-year-old Junk was a former Division II All-American football player at Southwest Oklahoma State. After college, Junk began training in mixed martial arts, earning his way into the UFC in 2007. Junk, who took the fight on less-than-two-weeks' notice, suffered a first-round submission loss to Christian Wellisch.
• John Madsen (3-0): The 6', 240-pound 29-year-old Madsen grew up in South Dakota, where he earned all-conference and all-state honors in football, wrestling and track. After defeating current UFC champion Brock Lesnar in a high-school wrestling match, Madsen went on to earn a Division II wrestling national championship at South Dakota State University. Madsen currently trains at Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad.
• James McSweeney (12-4): The 6' 4", 230-pound 28-year-old Englishman McSweeney started with a striking background, beginning his training in kickboxing at six years old before moving to Thailand to train full-time. After amassing a 136-9 combined record in multiple kickboxing organizations, McSweeney moved in with former UFC champion Rashad Evans and now trains full time at Greg Jackson's MMA in New Mexico.
• Matt Mitrione (0-0): The 6' 3", 275-pound 30-year-old was a two-position football All-American while in high school. After attending Purdue University and earning All-Big Ten honors, Mitrione played six seasons in the NFL as a member of the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. Following a devastating injury, Mitrione returned to his childhood passion of combat sports and began training with UFC veterans Chris Lytle and Jake O'Brien. 
• Roy Nelson (14-4): The 6' 1", 265-pound 33-year-old was born and raised in Las Vegas, training in martial arts from an early age while playing football, baseball and wrestling. After turning pro, Nelson surprised many opponents with his less-than-impressive physique. "Big Country" earned the now-defunct IFL's heavyweight crown, before suffering recent losses to notables Jeff Monson and Andrei Arlovski.
• Demico Rogers (4-0): The 6' 4", 235-pound 27-year-old was a stand-out wrestler and football player while attending high school in his native Washington. Rogers began training jiu-jitsu as a means of staying in shape, and after winning a local mixed martial arts tournament, he began to focus on the sport as a potential career.
• Brendan Schaub (4-0): The 6' 4", 240-pound 26-year-old credits the Jean Claude Van Damme movie "Bloodsport" as his inspiration to pursue martial arts. Growing up in Colorado, Schaub was an all-state athlete in both football and lacrosse. Schaub went on to play fullback at the University of Colorado before later playing in the Arena Football League and earning a spot on the Buffalo Bills' practice squad in the NFL. Schaub remained active in tae kwon do and jiu-jitsu, and he currently trains at T's KO Fight Club and Jackson's MMA.
• Darill Schoonover (10-0): The 6' 2", 250-pound 24-year-old Schoonover grew up in Texas and began training in jiu-jitsu, judo and submission grappling at 17. After graduating high school, Schoonover entered the Army, serving two years in the armed forces. Schoonover remains on active reserve while pursuing a career in teaching, though with 10-stoppages wins in 10 trips to the cage, mixed martial arts may quickly take precedence.
• Wes Shivers (3-1): The 6' 7", 285-pound 32-year-old Shivers grew up in Mississippi, earning a scholarship to play football at Mississippi State University. Shivers earned all-SEC honors before playing in the NFL with both the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons. Shivers followed his football career with a four-year stint in law enforcement. Shivers continues to train in Mississippi, including with UFC veteran Alan Belcher.
• Wes Sims (22-12-1): The 6' 10", 260-pound 29-year-old Sims originally planned to pursue a career in professional wrestling before UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman convinced "The Project" to take a shot at mixed martial arts. Sims earned his way into the UFC in 2003, dropping back-to-back outings to current UFC interim champion Frank Mir. Sims currently runs a gym in his native Ohio.
• Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (3-1): The 6' 1", 235-pound 35-year-old Ferguson needs little introduction to hardcore or casual MMA fans. The streetfighting YouTube sensation played football at the University of Miami before working as a bodyguard, earning extra money with his bareknuckle brawling exploits. A four-time veteran of the now-defunct EliteXC, Fergsuon last fought in a now-infamous loss to Seth Petruzelli.
• Abe Wagner (6-2): The 6' 4", 265-pound 29-year-old Wagner grew up in Wisconsin, excelling in both football and basketball while in high school. Wagner played linebacker at Michigan Tech University, earning a degree in mechanical engineering. Wagner began training in mixed martial arts in 2005.
• Mike Wessel (6-1): The 6', 255-pound 31-year-old Wessel was raised in Ohio, eventually playing his way onto the University of St. Francis football team. Wessel played briefly in the Arena Football League before accepting a position as the strength and conditioning coach at the University of Arkansas. Wessel suffered his first professional defeat at the hands of Antoni Hardonk in his lone UFC appearance at UFC 92 in December 2008.
• Justin Wren (10-1): The 6' 3", 264-pound 22-year-old Wren was a two-time high-school national champion wrestler in his native Texas, earning a spot on the Iowa State University wrestling team before an injury forced him to take a year off and recover. During his time away from wrestling, Wren focused his energy on mixed martial arts training, eventually electing to turn pro. Wren trains in Texas with "The Ultimate Fighter 4" champ Travis Lutter, and he plans on moving to Las Vegas to train full-time with current UFC interim champ Frank Mir.

To give you an example on how to enter your picks, I will post my own picks on here as well. After all what is the point of having a fantasy game if I could not participate in the fun myself?

My picks for B/R’s TUF 10 Challenge:

Top Eight

Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Darrill Schoonover
Scott Junk
Wes Shivers
Wes Sims 
Marcus Jones
John Madsen

Top Four

Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Darrill Schoonover
John Madsen

Final Two

Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub

The Ultimate Fighter

Brendan Schaub

I will post the weekly results as well as an opinioned blog after each episode airs on Spike TV every Wednesday night.  The deadline for submitting your picks will be 24 hours before the first episode airs on September 16 so hurry up and get your picks in and also pass this around to your friends.