Tony Ferguson | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

‘TUF 13? Episode 10 Recap: The Morning After

(Ramsey jacks Chris’s swagger before their semi-final match. Props: IronForgesIron.com)

Following last week’s “Where’s your kid?” fiasco, Tony Ferguson is persona non grata in the TUF house. He tries to strike up a conversation with Chuck O’Neil in the kitchen and gets brutally cold-shouldered. “He’s burnt every last bridge in this house,” Chuck explains. “He’s burnt a bridge with everybody.”

Tony finally gets a clue and apologizes to everybody — or at least tries to — claiming that he drank too much, blacked out, and doesn’t really remember what he said. Chuck ain’t having it: “I was disgusted by what you said last night. For you to put Charlie’s kid’s name in your mouth, and for him not to hit you in the face, that shows what kind of person he is, because all of us wanted to fucking kill you.” The other guys aren’t interested in making up with Tony either, and he eventually gives up. On the bright side, he didn’t come here to make friends, so at least he succeeded on that level.

Both semi-finals are slated to go down on this episode, starting with Chris Cope (Team Lesnar) vs. Ramsey Nijem (Team Dos Santos). They “woo!” at each other during the weigh-in. And it’s already time for somebody’s dreams to be crushed…

(Ramsey jacks Chris’s swagger before their semi-final match. Props: IronForgesIron.com)

Round 1: Ramsey and Chris circle around each other for a moment, then Ramsey storms forward like a madman, winging punches and making Chris immediately retreat. Ramsey clinches up with Chris, pulls back to fire some more shots, then drops low for a takedown. Chris is as crafty as ever and stays upright. He starts punching down on Ramsey’s head. They trade knees. Ramsey connects with a sharp one. They separate and Ramsey goes apeshit with the punches again. He lands a knee then shoots. Chris sprawls, and they’re locked against the cage again. Ramsey drops even lower, grabbing for a foot; Chris pounds the top of his head but doesn’t go down. Ramsey gets up and there’s more knees from each side. Chris gets in more punches to Ramsey’s noggin. A knee from Chris. Ramsey returns one. Steve Mazzagatti breaks ‘em. Chris sticks the jab. Ramsey misses a 1-2, but lands a follow-up jab. Teep-kick from Ramsey. Leg kick Chris. Ramsey jabs to the body. Chris lands another leg kick. Ramsey tries to rush forward with punches but Chris dodges. Another combo from Ramsey and the horn sounds. Chris did well blocking the takedowns and working his dirty boxing, but I’d still give it to Ramsey 10-9 for aggression.

Round 2: Sharp leg kick from Chris to open the round. Ramsey comes in with a 1-2-shoot and finally gets a takedown, but Chris quickly escapes to his feet. Ramsey kicks him in the ribs as they separate. Stiff jab frim Ramsey as Chris advances. Ramsey throws a wide overhand right. And again. He clinches up. Chris scores with a knee and punches. Chris rolls out and gets mobbed by Ramsey’s punches and knees. A couple more straight punches make Chris wilt to the mat and Ramsey pours it on until the ref pulls him off. Ramsey Nijem def. Chris Cope via TKO, and advances to the finals of TUF 13.

…which brings us to the Tony Ferguson vs. Chuck O’Neil grudge match. Brock considers Ferguson to be his best guy, while O’Neil is Dana White’s underdog pick. “I’ve become a Chuck fan,” DW says. “He’s tough and gritty and really wants to win.”

“I don’t respect Tony as a person,” Chuck says before the fight. “I respect him as a fighter and that’s where the line stops.”

“If he brings emotion to a fight, that’s not the best way to do it,” Tony says. “When you bring emotion to a fight you don’t think clear.” But enough talk…

Round 1: They both land punches right away. Leg kick Tony. Chuck returns it. Tony jabs, Chuck counters. It’s a very tense, evenly pitched opening. Tony with another leg kick. Chuck lands a high kick, and counters with a right after Tony misses a punch. 1-2-left kick from Chuck. A hard hook from Tony. Tony jabs, and takes a quick leg kick from Chuck. Chuck jabs, Tony fires the straight. Chuck lands a couple shots moving backwards. Leg kick Chuck. Another straight from Tony, but Chuck counters harder. Tony shoots for an ankle, misses it. But he follows up with a superman punch and lands it flush. Chuck tries one of his own but misses. Leg kick Chuck. Jab Tony. Chuck throws a leg kick and Tony charges in with strikes. Tony catches a body kick and dumps Chuck on the mat, but doesn’t follow him down. Tony with a wide hook. Chuck throws a body kick. He lands a jab. Tony lands a clean straight right before the bell. Close round, with both guys trading shots back and forth.

Round 2: Inside leg kick from Chuck. Tony responds with his own. Tony catches a body kick and drives Chuck back. Leg kick Tony. Tony stalks forward, gets in a left hook. Leg kick Chuck. Tony lands his jab, and then a hard right. Tony on the attack. He scores with a leg kick. Chuck pops a jab. Two more leg kicks from Tony; he’s focusing on the inside of Chuck’s left leg now. Chuck gives one back. Tony landing some precision strikes. Chuck throws 1-2-leg kick. Tony with a leg kick. He throws at the body, chases Chuck down, punishes his leg some more. Chuck’s nose is bloodied. Tony works his jab, Chuck returns a straight. Leg kick Tony. Chuck tries a spinning back kick but whiffs. Chuck retreating, Tony lands a flying knee to the body at the bell. It’s a clear 10-9 for Tony, and Chuck looks beaten down. But hey, anything can happen in the third, right?

Round 3: Chuck throws an uppercut, eats a jab, then a leg kick. Tony fires again at that leg, then throws a straight punch. Chuck lands a body kick and rolls away. Tony chasing with the leg kicks and punches. He lands the leg kick again, and Chuck is really feeling them now; his leg is getting blasted off the mat with each one, and he’s setting it back down gingerly. Tony with a hard hook to the body, and Chuck returns a punch to the head. Another leg kick from Tony. A jab, and two more leg kicks. Chuck returns some punches, but he’s walking backwards the whole round. Tony fires high and low with his punches. Chuck tries a push kick. Tony lands a hook and a right straight, and Chuck has clearly had enough. He drops to the mat, almost welcoming a finish — but it doesn’t come. Tony backs off after a few hammerfists and makes Chuck stand, which is not an easy thing to do at this point. Tony almost changes his mind and launches back on as Chuck gamely hobbles to his feet, but Herb Dean allows Chuck to get up cleanly. Another leg kick from Tony, and a hook, a hard right, and another leg kick. One more leg kick, followed by a long straight and a body shot and Chuck crumbles to the mat once again. Herb has seen enough and puts Chuck out of his misery. Tony Ferguson def. Chuck O’Neil via TKO, and advances to the finals of TUF 13.

And so, this Saturday’s TUF 13 welterweight final will be Tony vs. Ramsey — two guys who have sliced through this season’s bracket, scoring three-straight stoppages apiece. It’s a striker vs. wrestler matchup…Tony is just slightly scarier, that’s all.

At the end of the episode, we get a segment about Brock Lesnar’s withdrawal from the Junior Dos Santos bout due to diverticulitis. “You focus on getting healthy, all that other bullshit I’ll handle,” Dana says.

Following last night’s show, three more matchups were announced for the TUF 13 Finale (which we’ll be liveblogging, by the way):

– Chris Cope vs. Chuck O’Neil. The third-place bout between the season’s losing semi-finalists, both from Team Lesnar. This bout will be aired on the live Spike TV main card, which kicks off at 9 p.m. ET.

– Justin Edwards vs. Clay Harvison. Justin “Small Randy” Edwards was the Team Dos Santos member who got knocked out by Tony Ferguson in the preliminary round and couldn’t come back in the wild card fight because of his resulting medical suspension. Harvison (Team Lesnar) defeated Mick Bowman by decision in the preliminary round, but was subbed by Ramsey in the quarter-finals.

– Shamar Bailey vs. Ryan McGillivray. Bailey (Team Dos Santos) outpointed Nordin Asrih in the preliminary round, but lost a decision to Chris Cope in the quarter-finals. McGillivray (also Team Dos Santos) eliminated Len Bentley via decision in the opening round, but was TKO’d by Tony Ferguson in the quarters.

(BG)

Our Favorite MMA Girls in Swim Wear Bring You the Fix Friday Link Dump

Jason “Mayhem” Miller chosen to coach TUF 14 with Michael Bisping and will no longer face Aaron Simpson at UFC 132. Matt Hamill thinks he’s a title-contender if he beats Quinton “Rampage” Jackson this weekend.

Jason “Mayhem” Miller chosen to coach TUF 14 with Michael Bisping and will no longer face Aaron Simpson at UFC 132.

Matt Hamill thinks he’s a title-contender if he beats Quinton “Rampage” Jackson this weekend at UFC 130.

Tony Ferguson talks TUF 13 freak out.

Before his UFC 130 bout, Frank Mir will corner his cousin, Larry Mir tonight at TUFF-N-UFF amateur fights.

Ben Fowlkes breaks down the important elements of UFC 130.

Watch live UFC 130 Weigh-Ins at 4:00pm PT (7:00pm ET)

Justin Bieber inappropriately grabs Selena Gomez. Where are their parents? Don’t they watch 16 and Pregnant?

Tony Ferguson Blames Alcohol, Adrenaline, and His Own Father for ‘TUF 13? Meltdown

There’s a very good chance that Tony Ferguson will be the next winner of The Ultimate Fighter. So it’s a shame that his primary legacy from the show — at least for the people who actually watched it — is the moment from this week’s episode when he attacked his own teammate Charlie Rader then needled Rader about having his son taken from him. It was particularly shocking because Ferguson hadn’t previously shown any signs of being a mean-spirited drunk. Now, he has to expect a small chorus of boos when he enters the Octagon at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas next Saturday. In his guest blog for SBNation.com, Ferguson tried to explain the circumstances that transformed him from humble front-runner to TUF 13‘s biggest heel:

You first have to understand we started drinking not long after we had just got done fighting. We had also done the semi-final picks. I think part of me brought the fight home since my real fight with Ryan ended so fast. When you bring alcohol into the mix, it was just bad from there.

We all drank a lot. It started out with shots of Patron and moved to Jim Beam. Miller Lites were mixed in the entire time. We weren’t just drinking to relax. We were going hard core. Everyone was drinking, too, although maybe not as much as some of us.

Things got out of hand fast. My adrenaline was still going. Things were beginning to escalate around me. They didn’t show this, but Shamar Bailey got pissed after Ramsey started dancing on him. That helped to set things in motion.

Throughout the show, I tried to keep calm and poised. I excused myself from a lot of conversations or just insane bulls–t. I was trying to stay focused.

That all went away fast. Charlie Rader poured water on my head, but at the time I thought it was beer. I couldn’t understand why he would do something like that, even as minor as it may seem now. I had a short fuse. I’m usually not like that. When I saw myself, it was honestly kind of creepy.

Unfortunately, everyone saw The Boogeyman came out. That’s a side of my personality I usually only see in the cage, but somehow Charlie brought it out in real life. Something just snapped and I thought “This guy is your enemy now”. Rather than try to bring people close to me, I was pushing everyone away.

Why did I bring up Charlie’s son? I have no idea, but I have a guess. My birth father wasn’t there for me growing up. Somehow Charlie’s situation mixed in with my adrenaline from fighting and the booze all worked together to bring up my own issues. I learned a lot about myself watching that on tape and how I felt about certain things in my life. I was under a lot of pressure, I was trying to bottle up frustration and it didn’t work. Well, it worked for a while, but ultimately did not.

I said some things I shouldn’t have said. I was in a weird place. I was having crazy dreams in that house. The entire experience took me out of my own independence and removed all of my release valves.

I really regret saying what I said to Charlie and we’ve talked about it since the incident. I’ve spoke to Clay Harvison and Chuck, too. We are in a better place now than we were that night.

Part of me feels like this is what the producers wanted. Every season there is someone who cracks. It sucks it had to be me, but I’ve never lived in a house full of fighters competing against each other. That alcohol is also there for a reason. Maybe subconsciously I needed that to happen so I could fight Charlie and Chuck who were my friends in the house at the time.

The really weird part was how drunk I got. When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t remember much. I had a scar on my left arm, didn’t know where it came from. I started cleaning up and was basically none the wiser. But no one wanted to talk to me and who can blame them?

The last I will say is maybe all of this is related to me growing up angry. I only met my father two years ago. But I never wanted to bore anyone with my stories. My attitude was that no one cares about my problems, so I’ll just keep them to myself. That didn’t work, but that’s what I was working with when I was in the house at that time.

I’m sorry to all who I disappointed, but I want you all to know I haven’t had a drink at all during this camp. I’m training hard and staying on track. I’m living a healthy life, physically and emotionally. Thanks for all of the support over these past few weeks and watching me fight. If you want to contact me, get at me on Twitter or Facebook.

‘TUF 13? Episode 9 Recap: Tony Ferguson Is a Total Asshole

(Exhibit A. Props: IronForgesIron.com)

One positive thing you can say about the 13th season of TUF? It was mercifully brief. We’re already winding down to the end here, with just two more episodes to go until next Saturday’s finale show. Last night gave us two more quarterfinal fights, the selection of the semi-final matches (which go down next week), and a standout contestant making one of the most dramatic and unexpected heel-turns in TUF history.

Zach Davis feels confident in his quarterfinal rematch with Chuck O’Neil considering he’s already beaten him once. He knows it’s a dangerous matchup, but he wants to keep the fight standing this time to show the diversity of his skills. Because when you’ve got a good thing going, change it up I guess. Bad sign. Junior Dos Santos wants Zach to “do what he do well” — put Chuck on the mat and use his jiu-jitsu.

Chuck offers to give his teammate Charlie Rader his win bonus because Charlie recently had his son taken away from him and is being charged an arm and a leg for child support. The situation draws the sympathy of his teammates (“It’s not right…He deserves to have his kid, plain and simple”), but Charlie says he can’t accept the money. And of course, Chuck doesn’t even have it yet, so there’s that too.

“Chuck’s like a bad penny, he keeps showing up,” Zach says. And it’s already time for fight #1…

(Exhibit A. Props: IronForgesIron.com)

“Chuck’s like a bad penny, he keeps showing up,” Zach says. And it’s already time for fight #1…

Zach Davis vs. Chuck O’Neil

Round 1: Zach lands the first jabs. He pushes forward, and Chuck starts to work his counter-punches. Chuck takes the middle of the cage, and lands a hard leg kick. Chuck fires some punches; Zach has already seen enough and shoots. He puts Chuck’s back against the fence and throws some knees to the body. Chuck returns fire. Zach drops a level trying to take Chuck down, but Chuck defends it. The ref breaks ‘em when the action slows. Push-kick from Zach, another sharp leg kick from Chuck. Zach attacks with punches and a teep. Leg kick Chuck, and he rocks Zach with a right hand. Chuck swarms and Zach responds by shooting and clinching with Chuck against the fence. Chuck pounds down on Zach’s head, then gets some space and starts throwing. Zach re-establishes the clinch. Chuck escapes and they trade punches. Chuck gets the better of the exchanges and Zach is on the run. Chuck finishes the round teeing off on Zach’s face, clinching the 10-9.

Round 2: Zach jabs, throws a leg kick, and gets tripped down by a leg kick from Chuck. Chuck pounces on, but Zach quickly establishes guard. Chuck lets him up. Zach weakly throws a leg kick, then a teep. He looks exhausted, but he’s still going through the motions. Zach shoots, Chuck sprawls. Chuck tries to disengage but Zach stays on him, grabbing onto his waist. He drags Chuck down and pulls guard, but Chuck escapes to his feet. Ferocious punch combo from Chuck. Zach shoots, Chuck sprawls. Chuck gets up with Zach glued to him. Zach puts Chuck’s back against the fence. Knee from Chuck. The ref breaks ‘em. A hard 1-2 from Chuck, and another punch that stings Zach. And a leg kick. And a hook. Another leg kick. Zach floats out more weak kicks and gets tagged hard. Chuck lands again with the 1-2. Zach shoots, Chuck sprawls and escapes. Leg kick from Zach and the round ends.

The judges score it 20-18 x 3 for Chuck O’Neil, who moves onto the semi-finals. No more Trash-Bag Charlie, eh? Dana White’s heart is clearly with the kid from Massachusetts; he’s shown jumping out of his chair to cheer the action. “Chuck is definitely the toughest guy here,” he says. Meanwhile, Zach is furious, and punches a hole in the already-wrecked gym door. “I can fucking beat him!” he laments. Later, when Zach has calmed down, he says, “I have so much fun out there. Even on a bad day like today, I enjoyed it.”

And it turns out to be a really bad day for him. His ragged, puffed-up eyes don’t just look bad — they’re pretty much ruined. After the fight, the doctor told him he tore both his retinas, and shouldn’t fight again because they can tear more easily in the future. Zach says he went through the bad times, fighting in parking lots for $100 — and now when things are starting to go good, it all falls apart. Poor bastard.

Ryan McGillivray is fighting Tony Ferguson next, and he’s using his daughter as motivation: “I don’t know how to make a good living to give her the things she deserves. But I found something I might be good at…I missed her birithday. And I might have to miss other things. And I hope she understands.”

Ryan McGillivray vs. Tony Ferguson

Round 1: They spend the opening moments trading jabs. Tony tries a body kick. Ryan comes in and gets countered hard with an uppercut/right-hand combo. For a second it looks like he’ll be able to stay on his feet, but then…no, he wilts to the mat. The ref jumps in immediately as Tony starts to throw down the finishing touches. At first it looks like an early stoppage, but Ryan is clearly in la-la land. Welcome to the semis, Tony.

After a rough early going for Team Lesnar, the Brock ‘N’ Roll Express (as I’ve taken to calling them, starting just now) makes up 75% of the semi-finals, with Chris Cope, Chuck, and Tony still in the bracket. The only Team Dos Santos member left in contention is Ramsey Nijem. The coaches feel that Ramsey and Tony are the best fighters out of the four, but Dana has a crush on Chuck, and Chris is a dark horse that keeps proving people wrong.

Dana announces the semi-final matchups. The first fight will be Ramsey Nijem vs. Chris Cope. As usual, Cope poses for the initial face-off with a wide, clownish grin on his face. “I can’t take you seriously, Ramsey,” he says. But Ramsey is dead-serious, maybe for the first time on the show. “You better,” he says.

The other semi-final pairing, of course, is Tony Ferguson vs. Chuck O’Neil. Chuck honestly looks a little spooked walking up to the faceoff. Tony says it sucks fighting a friend, but we’re gonna see some fireworks.

The night starts merrily enough — with Stripper Ramsey performing his one-man all-male revue on the pool table and getting alcohol sprayed on his dick, you know, normal dude stuff — but boy does it turn ugly fast. A friendly tussle between Tony and Charlie Rader flips a psycho-switch on Tony, who to this point has only been a well-dressed nice-guy. Tony tackles Charlie over a glass coffee table and then puts his forearm across Charlie’s face. The mood in the room turns dire. Charlie gets up and checks to see if they’re still playing around. “Are you being serious? Are you good?” he says. But Tony is not good; he’s seeing red for some reason. After some verbal tussling, Tony brings up Charlie’s son. (“Where’s your kid at?”) Wow, what an asshole. Tony then throws a stool, putting an exclamation point on his own dickishness.

Charlie is beside himself with anger and wants to throw down right then and there. A little later, Charlie’s in his bedroom fuming, and Tony comes in. The guys try to get Tony to apologize for the low-blow about Charlie’s son. Tony’s like “what?” The guys tell him how he brought up Charlie’s kid, and Tony’s like, “oh yeah…WHERE’S YOUR KID?” Unbelievable. Charlie tries to go after Tony but they’re both restrained by their teammates.

Now, Chuck is just fine with meeting Tony in the semis. “I have more than enough ammo…I’m beating him. I’m gonna take his dreams away, I guaran-damn-tee it. Or I will die trying.” Well alright. Now things are starting to get interesting…

‘TUF 13? Episode 6 Recap: The Escape Goat

(Above: Zach Davis’s face-off with Chuck O’Neil. Below: Jake Busey, for comparison. Gif via ironforgesiron.com)

It’s a big ol’ locker-room pity party on Team Dos Santos following Mick Bowman’s loss. “Sometimes it’s not our time to be winner, but we have to try our best,” Junior says, trying to raise Mick’s spirits. He explains that the UFC is looking for exciting fighters and exciting fights. Lew Polley sees it differently: “You can say whatever you want, I don’t care, but the fact of the matter is, your job is just to win the fight. If it’s boring [and] you win, great. If it’s exciting [and] you lose, then what?”

Junior is not pleased to be contradicted in front of his team. “I think we make the guys a little bit confused, Lew,” he says. “Because sometimes I say something and you say something different…I know you’re a good fighter, I’m glad you’re here, but I think we need to talk to each other.” Uh-ohhh.

Back on the victorious Team Chickenshit, Brock tells Len Bentley that if they win their next two fights, he’s in line for a wild card spot. (Pay attention. This will become important later in the show.) And like clockwork, Len goes down grabbing his knee in practice. “I’m speechless,” Brock says, not literally speechless. “Maybe it’s time to close shop here for the day…I just want to exit the building. I’m just sick to my stomach.”

(Above: Zach Davis’s face-off with Chuck O’Neil. Below: Jake Busey, for comparison. Gif via ironforgesiron.com)

Clay Harvison gets his mangled hand checked out. It’s actually dislocated (horribly), but not broken. As for Len, the doc thinks it’s a patella dislocation, and he should be fine; his ACL and all the other important stuff is intact.

The feud between Junior and Lew finally comes to a head when JDS discovers that Lew visited the fighter house by himself, without Junior, and without Junior’s permission. JDS takes it as a grave insult and talks it over with wise old boxing coach Luiz Dorea, who gives the thumbs down: “He can’t go over your authority…you told him once, twice, three times…sadly, there is no other way.” Somebody’s ass gotta get fired.

Dos Santos calls Polley in for a private meeting, and confronts him about the unauthorized house-visit. Lew says he got permission from Junior the night before. Junior doesn’t remember that, and has had enough of the confusion: “You can leave now. I don’t need you more here…I think it’s too much confused the guys, confused, me. You can leave now. You have to, I think so.” Lew said he just wanted to check on his fighter, and it’s bullshit.

Lesnar has the next fight selection, and chooses Tony Ferguson (his #3 pick) vs. “Randy Couture’s long-lost son, Justin Edwards,” who came on as a replacement for Keon Caldwell, Junior’s last pick. Brock calls the matchup “wrestler vs. wrestler,” and is actually excited by that idea. By default, the last fight will be Chuck O’Neil vs. Zach Davis, aka “Gary Busey Jr.”

Ferguson is confident in his hands, and wants to keep it standing at first. Lesnar says he’s got a mean streak, which helps. JDS says Justin is one of the best fighters on the show, good in all areas. And he’s a fight finisher — professionally, he’s 6-0 with all wins by first-round stoppage.

The day of the fight is Tony’s birthday. His parents sent him a dream box — you know, one of those boxes that you keep your dream in? Tony puts on a shirt and tie before heading to the fight, which is his thing, I guess. He’s a class act. And here we go…

Round 1: Tony lands the first jab. Justin comes in slugging and kicking, head-hunting. He’s very aggressive. Tony tries to clinch to slow down the pace. Justin shakes him off. Tony lands a body shot, and Dustin goes into beast-mode again, firing at all angles. Justin clinches and lands a knee. Tony escapes. Tony swings some wild punches of his own. Justin goes back on the attack, throwing heavy leather. Tony lands on him twice. Great leg kick/uppercut combo from Tony. He sticks the jab. Justin returns a leg kick. Justin seems to be tiring already. They trade punches, but Tony gets the better of the exchange. Justin finally decides to shoot. He gets the takedown, but Tony is back up quickly. Justin lands the overhand right, followed by a jab and a body shot. Big punches from Tony now. Justin lands a hook and a leg kick.

Both guys are visibly fading. Justin lands a nice right hand. They clinch up. (Brock: “Take him down! Take him down!” JDS: “No, you take him down!” Nobody winds up taking down anybody.) Justin brawls forward and lands a left hook. Justin smashes Tony with three hard punches and scores the takedown. Tony gets busy with elbows to Justin’s head from his back. Tony kicks Justin off. Justin tries to pounce back in and gets KO’d with an upkick. Holy crap. Shades of Mousasi vs. Jacare. Tony slugs Justin in the head until the ref gets there.

Dana: “Holy shit. Good fight.” And it was. “Balls to the wall, guns blazing,” as Brock says.

Tony: “The coaches told me he likes to blow his wad.” [*cough*] He knew Justin was going to come out strong, and he did his best to stay calm. With the win, Team Lesnar evens the score to 3-3.

DW is psyched for both of them; they wanted to be there, and they went for it. Could Justin be another wild-card candidate? Tony confirms that this is probably the best birthday he’s ever had.

Anyway, on to the next. Chuck O’Neil is a goofball until he gets in the cage. Then: “It’s no longer ‘Dirtbag Charlie,’ you’re gonna see cold steel up in there, I’m gonna run shit.” Zach is a happy dude for the most part, but he’s very competitive. He’s looking to pin Chuck against the cage and rough him up with knees.

Brock isn’t too impressed with Zach. “Yeah, whatever. This guy’s a klutz, man. He’s a klutz.” Personally, I’m shocked to hear Brock use a yiddishism. Ten bucks says he learned that word from Paul Heyman.

Round 1: Zach needs just five seconds to complete his first takedown. He gets to side control, but Chuck pretty easily escapes to his feet. They clinch. Zach puts Chuck’s back against the fence and starts digging in with some knees to the body and legs, as per the gameplan. Chuck gives one back. Chuck reverses the position, but it doesn’t last long, and Zach goes back to knees to the body before dragging Chuck to the mat. Zach can’t do much in Chuck’s guard. Chuck goes for a triangle and Zach retreats, throwing down some punches from his feet. Chuck lands an upkick, but fails to knock Zach out. Zach kicks at Chuck’s legs. Chuck gets up and Zach shoots. Chuck grabs a kimura on the way down and uses it to flip Zach. He smashes Zach in the face from the top. Short elbow from Chuck. Zach works his guard, sets up a triangle, and taps Chuck pretty damn quick. Team Junior recovers the edge in the first-round fight totals, 4-3.

Dana tells Chuck it was a great fight, but Chuck is still super-pissed. Brock says he should have known to stay out of that triangle, because that’s his move. Chuck: “I fucking never get caught in fucking triangles. Ever.” Brock: “Never is not a word in fighting. Anything can happen.”

Speaking of “anything can happen”…it’s time for the wild card picks. (Is Dana wearing a Stevie Nicks t-shirt? CP reader Jerry T. reminds me that Stevie’s new album came out this week, proving once again that Dana’s torso is the best viral advertising platform on basic cable. Anyway, Stevie Nicks is the best.) They bring in Justin Edwards and tell him that both coaches want him in the wild card fight. Hey, that’s great! Except he can’t compete because of a 90-day knockout suspension. FUUUUU-.

They bring in all the losing fighters and see if they want another shot. Unsurprisingly, all of them do. Says front-runner Len: “I suffered a little setback, but I’m here to get employed by you, so whatever you want to see me do, I’ll do.” Dana is not impressed by their enthusiasm, even though each one made it very clear that they want the fight. Passion, and the use of profanity in getting your point across, seem to be very important to him.

It’s time for the coaches to give their input, and Brock kind of throws Len under the bus: “He would be our first wild card pick, but he’s got this chip on his shoulder…” When there’s pressure put on him, Brock wonders if Len’s knee is “gonna be that escape goat.” Wow. And he even pronounces it as “ekscape.”

Dana is shocked that Brock and Junior are actually hashing out the picks in a cordial, generally unbiased manner. In the end, they all come to a consensus. And it’s a weird one. DW announces that the wild card fight will be Javier Torres vs. Chuck O’Neal. “Honestly, I’m confused,” Len says. And he should be. His fight was great, while Javier’s wasn’t and Chuck got tapped in short order.

On the next episode: Len confronts Brock about the snub, and it’s time for the coaches’ challenge — some sort of NFL skills test, which Brock should have an advanatge in, you’d think. Plus, the wild card fight and the quarterfinal matchup.