(Video courtesy of Hulu.)
Last week, Team Jones was able to chalk up victory #2 after an injured Josh Samman blistered Swede Tor Troeng. With control finally back in their corner, Jon Jones decided to place his #1 pick, boxer Clint Hester, against Team Sonnen’s most decorated grappler in former police officer Jimmy Quinlan. It was a matchup that completely baffled Chael Sonnen, but will Jones’ unorthodox strategy pay off this time? Check out last night’s episode in full above and join us below for all the highlights.
– To kick things off this week, the house is treated to an ever-so-rare night on the town at a local Hooters establishment. Hooters: Our wings might taste like dirty bath water, but hey, tits! Fives are highed. Waitresses are groped. Gilbert Smith repeatedly finds ways to take his clothing off. And by the end of the night, Uriah Hall somehow manages to alienate himself from everyone even further. Collin Hart states his distaste for Hall’s attitude and hope he gets the chance to smash him.
– Hall admits that he hasn’t been sleeping well lately because his desire to nearly decapitate another housemate is eating away at him. You sure you still want a piece of this guy, Collin? Anyway, Sonnen’s assistant coach, Scott McQuary, tries to offer some zen-like wisdom to calm Uriah down. “A non-quiet mind is like a tractor,” he says, “You just can’t stop it.” Not sure which model of John Deere Scott’s used to plowing the fields with, but I’m pretty sure that the worst thing a tractor can do is give you gonorrhea.
– Back at the house, Josh Samman is feeling the pain from his fight last week. His unofficial diagnosis: A strained left leg muscle. Samman has a history with blood clots, as he revealed last week, and heads to the hospital to make sure he doesn’t have any internal bleeding. After running the necessary tests, Samman is cleared of any possible blod clots and sent on his way.
– Now it’s time for the obligatory fighter backstory. First up: Jimmy Quinlan, who grew up in a small cul de sac in Massachusets. Jimmy lived at home with both parents, and Jimmy’s parents have a real good marriage, so battling in the streets wasn’t exactly part of the gameplan for him. Quinlan talks about his past as a cop (he was one of the good ones) and even gets Uriah Hall to open up about the one time he was pulled over. Spoiler: It was because he was/is black. Speaking of intimidating black dudes, Quinlan admits that Hester is one scary-looking sumbitch, but he will beat him all the same.
– Hester’s backstory is pretty simple as well: He grew up in a large, supportive family, started out with boxing, and after his boxing gym was closed down in 2005, he took to martial arts out of pure convenience. Ten months later, he had his first MMA fight.
– Both Quinlan and Hester come off as happy, laid back dudes in the days leading up to their fight; they even casually joke about “meeting at the monkey bars” to settle their differences on fight day.
– Fight time: Shockingly, Quinlan shoots for a takedown almost immediately. After a little resistance on Hester’s part, Quinlan is able to pick the boxer up, carry him across the ring, and slam him Hughes vs. Trigg style. Hester scrambles out of side control and back to his feet, landing a few heavy elbows before he is dragged to the mat again. The two battle along the fence and Hester is able to snag a guillotine, which he basically uses to control Quinlan as he fires off a few knees to the body. Apparently Jon Jones isn’t a fan of yelling, so he quietly mumbles instructions to one of his assistant coaches to do it for him. Hester lands a couple more nice knees and follows them up with a series of punches that forces Quinlan to shoot again. The takedown is stuffed by Hester, who responds with some more solid punches to the body. The rest of the round sees Quinlan finally secure a takedown and finish the round on top.
Arianny is definitely not wearing makeup as we start Round 2: For some reason, Hester shoots for a horrifically telegraphed takedown to start the round. Hester squirms out of a guillotine attempt and lands a couple nasty elbows as Quinlan grabs yet another takedown. In the scramble, Quinlan is able to secure the mount. Hester gives up his back and Quinlan lands some pitter-patter punches until he sinks in a rear-naked choke that forces Hester to tap.
Put the rumors to rest: Jon Jones is officially a terrible strategist. Brings a whole new level of irony to those “Bones Knows” shirts, doesn’t it? But being that Chael Sonnen is a master strategist, he decides to deliver the Team Sonnen jersey that Bones was forced to wear after last week’s bowling challenge in the moments following Hester’s loss.
Next week, the house’s two remaining fighters, Zak Cummings and Dylan Andrews, will face off in the final preliminary contest. And in one of the weirdest coach challenges in TUF history, Jones and Sonnen face off in an excavator-driven obstacle course or some shit.
Team Sonnen
Luke Barnatt – quarterfinalist, defeated Gilbert Smith
Uriah Hall – quarterfinalist, defeated Adam Cella
Zak Cummings
Tor Troeng
Jimmy Quinlan – quarterfinalist, defeated Clint Hester
Kevin Casey
Kelvin Gastelum – quarterfinalist, defeated Robert “Bubba” McDaniel
Team Jones
Clint Hester
Josh Samman — quarterfinalist, defeated Tor Troeng
Robert “Bubba” McDaniel
Gilbert Smith
Collin Hart – quarterfinalist, defeated Kevin Casey
Adam Cella
Dylan Andrews