Wednesday night saw the latest episode of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck” hit the Spike TV airways with episode five.
Down 0-3 in the competition, Team Koscheck needs a jolt of energy and / or inspiration to get them on the board, and coach Josh Koscheck believes he has the answer in welterweight contender Jon Fitch.
“The team is awesome and they have a great mentality,” said Fitch, who spars with the lightweight hopefuls. “The hardest thing to coach are people with bad attitudes. Give me a guy with no talent, out of shape, but who listens over a talented guy who thinks he knows everything and won’t listen.”
Back at the house, Team GSP’s Alex Caceres is starting off prank season, replacing Nam Phan’s fabric softener with bleach. Unfortunately, Michael Johnson used it for his own wash.
“It’s completely immature,” said Johnson, who says that the whole house is already sick of the fighter known as “Bruce Leeroy”….
For this week’s fight, St-Pierre chooses Spencer Paige to take on Team Koscheck’s Nam Phan, but before the opening bell, it’s time for another special visitor to enter the gym, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell, who fills Koscheck’s squad in on life in the fight game.
“Don’t forget to enjoy what you do,” said Liddell. “If you don’t like this, it’s not the job for you. Train hard, train smart, and enjoy it. Have fun.”
In the Paige-Phan bout, neither fighter wastes any time getting down to business, as they trade strikes at a fast clip. Paige’s kicks give him an early edge, one nullified by a straight right to the face by Phan. After settling down, Paige assumes control again behind a crisp striking game, but Phan keeps pushing forward, making sure that he gets his licks in as well. With under two minutes left, Phan catches a Paige kick and flips his opponent to the mat. Phan pounces immediately with ground strikes before locking up his arm towards the end of the round. Paige is in obvious pain, but the bell intervenes and saves him.
To read the rest of the recap and to see who will move on, visit UFC.com.