Tag: TUF recap

The TUF 20 Checklist, Episode 1: A Loaded Bracket, An Early Upset, And the Coin That REFUSED TO DIE


(Here’s what the TUF 20 bracket looks like after episode 1; click image for full size version. Team Pettis is in green, Team Melendez is in purple. Props: Reddit MMA)

Last night’s premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned ended with Invicta FC standout Tecia Torres losing in a major upset, when she dropped a three-round decision to the relatively unheralded Randa Markos. If you think that’s a “spoiler” because you haven’t watched the episode yet, well, now you know how the rest of us feel. Due to some epic screw-ups by the UFC production team, the Torres/Markos result was briefly revealed on the broadcast before the fight had even aired, and UFC.com posted an episode recap while the show was still going on. Those are spoilers, my friends.

But all that weirdness aside, TUF 20 episode 1 was a highly satisfying two hours — and not just because the CagePotato logo appeared on the broadcast several times (!) in footage from Rose Namajunas’s Invicta fights. In an interesting change of format, the 16 strawweight competitors were given seeding-numbers based on their rank in the division, and placed into a bracket; #1-ranked Carla Esparza will fight #16-ranked Angela Hill, #2-ranked Joanne Calderwood will fight #15-ranked Emily Kagan, and so on. Coaches Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez still got to pick their teams based on which fighters they liked best after an evaluation session — and they’ll still decide the order of the fights — but they weren’t given the seed-numbers beforehand. It worked out like this…

Instead of giving you a scene-by-scene rundown of everything that happened on the show, we’d like to debut the TUF 20 Checklist, which will hopefully hit the major themes that you’ll be seeing each week. Here we go…


(Here’s what the TUF 20 bracket looks like after episode 1; click image for full size version. Team Pettis is in green, Team Melendez is in purple. Props: Reddit MMA)

Last night’s premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned ended with Invicta FC standout Tecia Torres losing in a major upset, when she dropped a three-round decision to the relatively unheralded Randa Markos. If you think that’s a “spoiler” because you haven’t watched the episode yet, well, now you know how the rest of us feel. Due to some epic screw-ups by the UFC production team, the Torres/Markos result was briefly revealed on the broadcast before the fight had even aired, and UFC.com posted an episode recap while the show was still going on. Those are spoilers, my friends.

But all that weirdness aside, TUF 20 episode 1 was a highly satisfying two hours — and not just because the CagePotato logo appeared on the broadcast several times (!) in footage from Rose Namajunas’s Invicta fights. In an interesting change of format, the 16 strawweight competitors were given seeding-numbers based on their rank in the division, and placed into a bracket; #1-ranked Carla Esparza will fight #16-ranked Angela Hill, #2-ranked Joanne Calderwood will fight #15-ranked Emily Kagan, and so on. Coaches Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez still got to pick their teams based on which fighters they liked best after an evaluation session — and they’ll still decide the order of the fights — but they weren’t given the seed-numbers beforehand. It worked out like this…

Instead of giving you a scene-by-scene rundown of everything that happened on the show, we’d like to debut the TUF 20 Checklist, which will hopefully hit the major themes that you’ll be seeing each week. Here we go…

Did the “ladies bring it” in the episode’s fight?: Yeah, they absolutely did. Tecia Torres dominated the first round against Randa Markos, battering the Iraqi-Canadian with her trademark side-kick and some painful-looking oblique kicks. (Torres was also aided by Herb Dean’s less-than-stellar officiating.) When Markos tried to take the fight to the ground, Torres wouldn’t let her. But Markos came alive in the second frame, eventually dragging Torres to the mat and smashing her with ground-and-pound. It was clear that both women were fading during the sudden victory round, but once again, Markos managed to score a takedown late in the round, and held Torres on her back until the final horn, which was enough to earn her the nod from all three judges. It was a truly gutsy performance from Markos, who we figured didn’t have a chance in this one.

Most absurd Dana White exaggeration (tie):
– “It’s the most important season we’ve ever done.” I think he meant “with the obvious exception of season 1.”
– “One of these girls is literally gonna become one of the biggest stars in the world.” Oh man. Demetrious Johnson is ten pounds heavier and has a penis, and he still can’t get over with fans.

Best tease of a scene from a future episode: At some point in the season, Dana White will have to console a crying “Rowdy” Bec Rawlings in a back room at the TUF gym. That usually means “injury,” but we’ll see. Poor Rowdy Bec. Also, one of the women passes out during a weight cut at one point.

Scariest quote: “Those women are my food.” — Angela Magana. Holy shit. Take this thing back to Baltimore! Thug Rose gets an honorable mention for her speech about how she enjoys hurting people.

Variations of “I’m not here to make friends“: One, from Torres.

Gratuitous Felice Herrig ass-shots: Two. One during her get-to-know-you profile in the beginning of the show, and one where she’s just hanging out at the house.

Best non-dramatic moment played up for drama:

#TheStruggle alert: My God, Angela Hill’s phone. Can we set up a Kickstarter for her or something?

Next week’s fight: Joanne Calderwood vs. Emily Kagan.

Longshot prediction: Calling it now — TUF 20 is the season where they bring back the Scarecrow Challenge.

–BG

‘TUF 18? Episode 7 Recap: The Great Facial Hair Fracas of 2013 Wages On


(The TUF editors refer to this as the “fearection” shot.)

Breaking from our usual tradition of giving long-winded, play-by-play recaps of each week’s The Ultimate Fighter, I’m going to keep things relatively short and sweet for yesterday’s episode, “Zone In,” which featured a fight between Josh Hill (Team Tate) and Michael Wootten (Team Rousey). It might be because the seventh episode of season 18 contained very few highlights of note, it might be because I am just catching up on the episode as I write this. In any case, I’ve already provided more introspection than I will for the rest of this recap, so let’s get started.

Following her three round war with Jessamyn Duke last week, Raquel Pennington receives a congratulatory talking to from Dana White, who insists that she “Let dem hands go, grrrl” if she wants to win this whole thing. He might have phrased that differently.

It’s father’s day back at the house (and presumably, the rest of the world as well), so you know what that means: DADS HAVING A CRYFEST!! Cody Bollinger is hit the hardest by the sads but Ronda Rousey stops by to give all the father’s shaving kits to make them feel better. Oh, so Team Tate gives Edmund a discount coupon for an eyebrow treatment and it’s offensive, but Ronda can hand out shaving kits all willy-nilly and we’re supposed to commend her for it? SHE-NAN-I-GANS.

Not willing to sit idly by and lose the Great Facial Hair Fracas of 2013, Team Tate puts up some photos of Fallon Fox “Edmund Rousey,” a unibrowed, half-man, half-woman thing so horrifying that the cameras dare not show it. POINT GRYFFINDOR TATE. Dana White stops by to remove the photos but neglects to check the sauna like a goddamn amateur. Upon seeing the photo DW missed, Ronda immediately pulls the racist card on Team Tate. That’s right, unibrow jokes now qualify as racist. Tell them how we feel about this latest development, Hubert.

Team Rousey has a training session that consists of convulsing on the mat, Dana White hates one-dimensional fighters like Josh Hill, slow-motion walking blah blah blah FIGHT TIME!


(The TUF editors refer to this as the “fearection” shot.)

Breaking from our usual tradition of giving long-winded, play-by-play recaps of each week’s The Ultimate Fighter, I’m going to keep things relatively short and sweet for yesterday’s episode, “Zone In,” which featured a fight between Josh Hill (Team Tate) and Michael Wootten (Team Rousey). It might be because the seventh episode of season 18 contained very few highlights of note, it might be because I am just catching up on the episode as I write this. In any case, I’ve already provided more introspection than I will for the rest of this recap, so let’s get started.

Following her three round war with Jessamyn Duke last week, Raquel Pennington receives a congratulatory talking to from Dana White, who insists that she “Let dem hands go, grrrl” if she wants to win this whole thing. He might have phrased that differently.

It’s father’s day back at the house (and presumably, the rest of the world as well), so you know what that means: DADS HAVING A CRYFEST!! Cody Bollinger is hit the hardest by the sads but Ronda Rousey stops by to give all the father’s shaving kits to make them feel better. Oh, so Team Tate gives Edmund a discount coupon for an eyebrow treatment and it’s offensive, but Ronda can hand out shaving kits all willy-nilly and we’re supposed to commend her for it? SHE-NAN-I-GANS.

Not willing to sit idly by and lose the Great Facial Hair Fracas of 2013, Team Tate puts up some photos of Fallon Fox ”Edmund Rousey,” a unibrowed, half-man, half-woman thing so horrifying that the cameras dare not show it. POINT GRYFFINDOR TATE. Dana White stops by to remove the photos but neglects to check the sauna like a goddamn amateur. Upon seeing the photo DW missed, Ronda immediately pulls the racist card on Team Tate. That’s right, unibrow jokes now qualify as racist. Tell them how we feel about this latest development, Hubert.

Team Rousey has a training session that consists of convulsing on the mat, Dana White hates one-dimensional fighters like Josh Hill, slow-motion walking blah blah blah FIGHT TIME!

Round 1: Being that Hill is a one-dimensional lay-n-prayer not worthy of our praise, he shoots in for a takedown almost immediately. Apparently Hill follows the Michael Bay rule of compromise, and I respect him for it. The rest of the round, however, is boring as shit. Hill fails to capitalize on a rear-naked choke and spends three or so minutes pushing Wootten against the cage. THIS IS WHY THE WOMEN’S FIGHTS ARE GETTING HIGHER RATINGS, YOU GUYS.

Round 2: Ever the contrarian, Wootten starts round 2 by firing off the biggest strike of the fight, a right knee that momentarily drops Hill. Hill gets back to his feet and Wootten takes him down for reasons that are not immediately clear. They become more and more clear, however, as Wootten continues to reign down heavy punches and elbows from Hill’s guard. Hill survives the onslaught and gets back to his feet, only to have Wootten shoot on him. Hill pulls guard and snatches up a guillotine that is a no-go, then Wooten attempts a similarly misguided RNC of his own. Hill reverses and finishes the round with some pitter-patter punches from on top. A much more entertaining round and it looks like we’re going to a third…

Round 3: Hill starts things off with a spinning backfist that misses. After a scramble along the fence, Hill tries to secure another takedown but fails. Another scramble, a few elbows, and Wootten tries for a takedown. Hill trying for a takedown against the fence. Hill trying for a takedown. Hill still trying for that takedown…they break! Hill tries another spinning backfist that is just adorable and Wootten gets a takedown. Wootten stays on top for the final minute and a half, landing a few punches here and there and this one is all over.

Michael Wooten def. Josh Hill via Unanimous Decision.

It wasn’t exactly the barnburner that last week’s fight was, but it’ll do, pig.

Tate congrats Team Rousey on the win, gets flipped off again, rinse, repeat. At the fight announcement, Rousey “picks’ the final two quarterfinal fights: Peggy Morgan vs. Sarah Moras and Cody Bollinger vs. Anthony Gutierrez.

Next week: A recap episode? With no fights? The fuck do they think this is, Twin Peaks?! Yeah, we will not be recapping that.

Team Rousey Women
Shayna Baszler (eliminated by Julianna Pena in the quarterfinals, episode 2)
Jessamyn Duke (eliminated by Raquel Pennington in the quarterfinals, episode 6)
Peggy Morgan
Jessica Rakoczy

Team Rousey Men
Chris Beal (eliminated by Chris Holdsworth in the quarterfinals, episode 3)
Davey Grant
Anthony Gutierrez
Michael Wootten

Team Tate Women
Julianna Pena
Sarah Moras
Raquel Pennington
Roxanne Modafferi (eliminated by Jessica Rakoczy in the quarterfinals, episode 4)

Team Tate Men
Cody Bollinger
Chris Holdsworth
Josh Hill (eliminated by Michael Wootten in the quarterfinals, episode 7)
Louis Fisette (eliminated by Davey Grant in the quarterfinals, episode 5)

–J. Jones

‘The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen’ Episode 9 — Complete Video & Recap

(Video courtesy of Hulu.) 

Apologies in advance for dropping the ball on last week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Jones vs. Sonnen, which we completely forgot to recap for reasons that are not immediately obvious (if only we could get Danga to set down the bong for like thirty seconds…). Long story short: Chael Sonnen emerged victorious from a Coaches Challenge that involved stacking tires with excavators (?) and Team Jones’ Dylan Andrews secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a majority decision victory over Zak Cummings. For this week’s “Wild Card” matchup, Team Jones’ Bubba McDaniel and Team Sonnen’s Kevin Casey were selected.

To find out which fighter secured the final spot in the TUF 17 bracket, as well as the rest of last night’s highlights, join us after the jump.

– In a final effort to make us sympathize with noted codpiece Bubba McDaniel, last night’s episode began with McDaniel telling us his “I’m a poor little sad sack” story about how he can’t see his daughter because he is too far in debt.

I don’t know why I just downplayed a story as sad as that for laughs, and I apologize. God I’m dead inside…


(Video courtesy of Hulu.) 

Apologies in advance for dropping the ball on last week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Jones vs. Sonnen, which we completely forgot to recap for reasons that are not immediately obvious (if only we could get Danga to set down the bong for like thirty seconds…). Long story short: Chael Sonnen emerged victorious from a Coaches Challenge that involved stacking tires with excavators (?) and Team Jones’ Dylan Andrews secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a majority decision victory over Zak Cummings. For this week’s “Wild Card” matchup, Team Jones’ Bubba McDaniel and Team Sonnen’s Kevin Casey were selected.

To find out which fighter secured the final spot in the TUF 17 bracket, as well as the rest of last night’s highlights, join us after the jump.

– In a final effort to make us sympathize with noted codpiece Bubba McDaniel, last night’s episode began with McDaniel telling us his “I’m a poor little sad sack” story about how he can’t see his daughter because he is too far in debt.

I don’t know why I just downplayed a story as sad as that for laughs, and I apologize. God I’m dead inside…

– Back at the house, Josh Samman is inspired by McDaniel’s failed call out of Casey earlier in the season and proceeds to call out Jimmy Quinlan, who responds with a terrible fisherman pun that I probably would have made at some point in this recap had he not done it for me. Although Quinlan expresses a desire for the matchup, Uriah Hall throws his name into the proverbial hat and Quinlan eventually agrees that he’d rather see Hall “beat the piss out of” Samman than do it himself.

– The massive cut on Casey’s head is still tender, so he uses some kind of Kendo mask to make sure it doesn’t reopen in training. Coach Sonnen states that he doesn’t just want to see Casey win but live up to the potential he failed to reach in his preliminary fight against Collin Hart.

– It’s Thanksgiving time at the TUF household, y’all, and Sonnen and Jones are in the building. During a heartfelt toast, Sonnen is forced to admit that “It’s a severe disappointment to find out what a good guy” Jones is, and jokes about animosity not being his style. You guys, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. After Jones beats Sonnen in the worst way possible as he promises to do, of course.

Meanwhile, Bubba is pissed off that he can’t partake in the festivities and lashes out at his housemates gluttony in the confessional. Because he should be given the second chance that none of his other eliminated teammates received and some of their mashed potatoes. I recant my previous apology.

– Fight time! Round 1: After a brief opening exchange, Casey pulls guard and works for a guillotine before the two pop back up to their feet. Casey secures a trip takedown and easily passes Bubba’s guard, but is unable to do much other than control McDaniel’s posture (or as GSP fans call it, “complete and utter domination” TROLOLOLOL). Bubba throws up a couple unsuccessful triangle attempts and gets to his feet, but gets taken down again with less than 30 seconds left in the round. 10-9 Casey

Round 2: Jones urges Bubba to stay out of the clinch in the second, and is obliged for three whole seconds before Bubba does just that. This does not make assistant coach Mir very happy. Bubba continues to do some body work from the clinch until Casey drops into a completely telegraphed guillotine attempt, showing obvious signs of tiring as he does. McDaniel goes to work from on top for the rest of the round, landing body shots and elbows on a helpless Casey. 10-9 McDaniel and we are going to a third round.

Round 3: Well, the UFC promised a “shocking” ending to this fight and that’s what we’re given. Not in the Uriah Hall “Did he died?” kind of way, but more in the Nick “Wouldn’t Get Up From Butt Scoot” Serra kind of way, as Casey gives up on the stool in between rounds. During the freaking wild card fight. Redemption: Failed.

– Anyways, McDaniel starts celebrating like he owns the place and asks Dana if he gets one of those tasty $5000 finish bonuses. Dude, just be happy your back in the tournament. Dana ends up giving him one anyway.

Sonnen is shocked that a cardio machine like Casey gassed out, but once they get back to the locker room, it appears that something out of the ordinary is wrong with him. Turns out, Casey once suffered a kidney failure during a fight back in 2010 and thought it was happening to him again. Casey leaves in an ambulance to undergo some preliminary tests.

Now, onto the quarterfinal matchups, which are as follows:

– Collin Hart vs. Kelvin Gastelum
– Luke Barnatt vs. Dylan Andrews
– Josh Samman vs. Jimmy Quinlan
– Uriah Hall vs. Bubba McDaniel

Next week, we will be treated to a pair of fights: Hart vs. Gastelum and Barnatt vs. Andrews. Tune in to find out who will punch their ticket to the semis.

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 — quarterfinalist, defeated Kevin Casey
Gilbert Smith
Collin Hart – quarterfinalist, defeated Kevin Casey
Adam Cella
Dylan Andrews — quarterfinalist, defeated Zak Cummings 

–J. Jones

‘The Ultimate Fighter 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen’ Episode 7 — Complete Video & Recap

(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.


(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

–J. Jones

‘The Ultimate Fighter 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen’ Episode 6 – Complete Video & Recap

Following his shocking upset loss to Kelvin Gastelum last week, Bubba McDaniel emerged a much humbler man in the opening moments of yesterday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Jones vs. Sonnen. With Team Sonnen now back in control of the fight selections, this week’s matchup pitted highly-touted Swede Tor Troeng against Team Jones’ #2 pick and self-appointed captain Josh Samman. Was Samman able to overcome his nagging injuries and regain control for Team Jones, or did Troeng notch “another on for the bad guys?” Check out the entirety of last night’s episode above and join us after the jump for a full recap to find out.

– The episode kicks off with Jimmy Quinlan constructing a hammer for Tor (pronounced Thor. GET IT?). Although the prototype is laughably undersized, Quinlan showcases some MacGuyver-esque resourcefulness when building Troeng a life-sized model. If Josh Samman turns out to be less a human fighter and more a mole in need of whacking, he is pretty much screwed now.

Following his shocking upset loss to Kelvin Gastelum last week, Bubba McDaniel emerged a much humbler man in the opening moments of yesterday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Jones vs. Sonnen. With Team Sonnen now back in control of the fight selections, this week’s matchup pitted highly-touted Swede Tor Troeng against Team Jones’ #2 pick and self-appointed captain Josh Samman. Was Samman able to overcome his nagging injuries and regain control for Team Jones, or did Troeng notch “another win for the bad guys?” Check out the entirety of last night’s episode above and join us after the jump for a full recap to find out.

– The episode kicks off with Jimmy Quinlan constructing a hammer for Tor (pronounced Thor. GET IT?). Although the prototype is laughably undersized, Quinlan showcases some MacGuyver-esque resourcefulness when building Troeng a life-sized model. If Josh Samman turns out to be less a human fighter and more a mole in need of whacking, he is pretty much screwed now.

– Speaking of Samman, say what you want about the arrogant, grating, “Dad”-like member of Team Jones, but there’s no denying that he has earned his place in the TUF house. Shortly before joining the cast, Samman underwent a surgery to remove a massive blood clot in his quadriceps that could have cost him his right leg. It’s a pretty harrowing story if you don’t happen to be Kyle Maynard (or Frank Mir, who is all “Yeah bro, cool story” upon hearing it). Samman also mentions something about violence being a taboo subject in his home as a child and credits his single mother and God-given physical gifts for putting him where he is today.

– On the opposite end of the spectrum, despite being a goddamn killing machine inside the ring, it turns out that Uriah Hall is kind of a headcase outside of it. First, he goes a little too hard when sparring with teammate Luke Barnatt. Then, he calls out Luke — again, a member of his own team — after Gilbert Smith asks him who he’d like to fight next. Then, in an almost shot-by-shot reenactment of his “professional cooker” spat with Samman in episode 4, Hall proceeds to get offended by another innocent comment during a fireside pow wow, this time from Adam Cella, and responds by attacking Cella’s girlfriend, Collin Hart’s “lay-n-pray” offense, and finally Josh Samman. Hall chalks up his sensitivity to the fact that he was bullied as a kid, but fails to realize that he is alienating pretty much everyone in the house by being such a defensive little bitch all the time.

– On the opposite opposite spectrum, no one seems to know a thing about Tor, mainly because he only speaks when spoken to and is too much of a gentleman to really push anyone’s buttons. The dude is basically a Glorious Sweater of Absolute Victory away from the finals is what we’re saying. Anyway, he informs us later that he has been training MMA in the Swedish countryside since he was 16 and now works part-time at a university. Moving on…

– The house is taken out for a night of bowling, and Sonnen uses the occasion to rope Jones into an unofficial coaches challenge of sorts: 3 frames, with the loser being forced to wear the winner’s team jersey to one of their own training sessions. Jones rocks a fancy skull bowling ball and Sonnen appears to select a five-pound ball from the kids racks. In perhaps the most intentionally funny moment of his career, Jones loses to Sonnen by two pins after rolling a 7-10 split (complete with a Brandi Chastain slide of greatness at the end), then immediately runs out of the room like a rejected middle school girl at a semi-formal. Or Scott Evil.

– After the weigh-ins, it’s fight time baby! In the locker room, Sonnen admits that he’d like to see at least one of Troeng’s holes exposed in the fight for the sole purpose of helping Tor improve upon it. Foreshadowing? Methinks so.

Herb Dean gets things started. After slipping on his opening kick, Samman bull-rushes forward and presses Troeng into the fence, only to be immediately reversed by the Swede. The two jockey for position against the cage for the next couple of minutes, with Tor landing a few knees to the body and Samman reversing position, before Samman botches a judo throw and winds up with Tor in his full guard. Troeng lands a couple decent shots before Samman is able to get back to his feet, where he lands a flurry of strikes of his own in the scramble. A couple good knees to the body in the clinch from Samman force Troeng to reverse the position.

Tor spins out of the clinch and as he does, Samman charges forward with a 1-2 combination that puts Tor’s lights out. A brutal finish for sure, and just one of many to already happen on the TUF 17 set. If the flashy production and lack of pretty much everything that plagued the last two seasons of TUF failed to get you into this season, then the fights surely have by this point.

With control back in his corner, Jones announces that next week’s matchup will be between his #1 pick, Clint Hester, and aforementioned hammer-builder Jimmy Quinlan. Sonnen immediately ponders why the hell Jones would throw Hester, a decorated boxer with a somewhat subpar ground game, against as decorated a wrestler as Quinlan. Based on Jones’ previous pairing, it’s safe to assume that maybe the champ isn’t quite a master strategist when his little Yoda isn’t around.

Tune in next week to find out whether Jones has shot himself in the foot again. Also on tap: a trip to the hospital for Josh Samman and a night of debauchery/shirt-tearing at a local Hooters establishment.

Team Sonnen
Luke Barnatt – quarterfinalist, defeated Gilbert Smith
Uriah Hall – quarterfinalist, defeated Adam Cella
Zak Cummings
Tor Troeng
Jimmy Quinlan
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

–J. Jones