Well, it's back! The eighth installment of the acclaimed TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) reality series, this time around it's Team Mir vs. Team Nogueria . Things will probably look really familiar to veterans of the series, bringing back multiple weight classes instead of one, like the previous season. This time it's the lightweights and light heavyweights set to do reality TV battle. Anyone who saw the first episode, which debuted on spike wed September 19th at 10 ET, knows that there is no lack of personality from these 32 fighters. It should be an entertaining season, the field of 32 will be reduced to 16, and legendary coaches Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria will welcome 8 lightweights and 8 light heavyweights to their chance at becoming the “Ultimate Fighter.”
Similar to last season, fighters must earn a spot in the house by winning a 2 round preliminary fight. This method was first introduced to keep the crybabies out, and I think fans agree, this is the way it should be. Too many times in the past we have seen guy's kicked off the show by Dana White for not making weight, or missing their girlfriends, or just generally being more cut out for MTV’s the real world than the UFC. Speaking of not making weight, Jason Guida, brother of UFC star and fan favorite, Clay Guida, will be better known as the guy who ate his way to a disqualification. After weighing in at a husky 217 lbs., he was only able to cut enough weight to get down to 207, prompting the Nevada State Athletic commission’s Executive Director Keith Kizer to step in and disqualify him. Kizer stated that he just could not allow Guida to cut anymore weight due to doctor recommendations. How does a guy not make weight? It's not like they called him the night before and told him he is on this show called The Ultimate Fighter? Reserve fighter Mike Stuart was welcomed in to replace Guida. He was promptly welcomed out by IFL veteran Krzyszynski Soszynski by first round KO, and the episode was rolling.
The first lightweight bout saw Dave Kaplan win by first round rear naked choke against Fernando Bernstein. Joe Duarte and Philippe Nover fought next, and although it looked good for Duarte early on, Nover finished him in the second round by submission. Earlier in the episode Nover fainted as Dana White walked in, due to what he claimed was the Nevada heat, prompting White to dub him "fainting" Philippe. After the fight however, White retracted the statement saying, “that guy is the real deal.”
Vinny Magalhaes earned a spot in the house thanks to his the first round stoppage of Lance Evans, brother of light heavyweight Rashad "I just scored the sickest knockout on the iceman" Evans, and was forced to quit due to a rib injury. Antwain Britt, also earned a spot in the house with a dominant win over a game Ryan Jimmo.
In a crazy turn of events, lightweight Brian McLaughlin took a knee to the head from Brandon Garner while down and could not continue. The match was ruled a no contest, and Garner was eliminated because he had thrown the knee. This allowed McLaughlin to get into the final 16, and rightfully so. McLaughlin looked to be dominating the fight up until that point, the knee was just unfortunate.
Love him or hate him, there is no doubt Junie Browning is going to make some noise this season. He was quoted as saying, "I hear they have free booze in the house." Browning took on Jose Aguillar who likened himself to Hitler and Napolean, and that’s about all he did. Junie made short work of him. Jose Agulliar retired in his corner after the first round beating from Browning. When asked if Aguillar had a chance to beat him Junie Browning replied "he has a better chance of getting me pregnant." I might have chosen a different analogy, but you can’t knock the guy, he was right. Both coaches were really impressed with Browning, there is no question.
Next week we see the final matches to determine the last 8 fighters to join the Ultimate Fighter house. Check back here after the show to catch another recap.
Fighters in the house:
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Krzysztof Soszynski
Jules Bruchez
Vinny Magalhaes
Antwain Britt
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Dave Kaplan
Philippe Nover
Brian McLaughlin
Junie Browning
1 comment:
NIce write-up Marcus. Not bad for the first effort.
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