411's The Ultimate Fighter: US vs. UK Report 4.01.09
Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 04.01.2009
The Ultimate Fighter is back this season with a new twist. It's Team US vs. UK and on this episode 16 British fighters compete for the chance to be on Team UK coached by Michael Bisping.
The Ultimate Fighter 9
Team US vs. Team UK
Episode 1
A highlight video on Michael Bisping. Tonight, 16 British fighters battle for a chance to make it into the house.
Dana White arrives at the Wolfslair gym and is greeted by Bisping. Dana gives the 16 fighters the welcoming speech. Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson arrive to the gym. This was taped before their UFC 93 fight so there was no coach.
Lightweight Fight: Gary Kelly vs. Andre Winner
Kelly trains with Bisping so we know who Bisping wants to win this fight.
Recap: The whole fight was spent battling in the clinch with both men doing a lot of dirty boxing. Winner got a plum clinch and dropped Kelly with a knee. Kelly didn't know how he lost after the fight and I'm sure Rich Franklin knew exactly what he was going through.
Winner Gary Winner by KO in Round 1
Lightweight Fight: Jeff Lawson vs. James Bryan
Recap: Lawson took him down early and tooled him on the ground, finishing with an armbar.
Winner Jeff Lawson by Submission (Armbar) in Round 1
Welterweight Fight: Che Mills vs. James Wilks
Recap: Mills came out hot, dropped Wilks, and was pounding on him while standing but Wilks caught him in a heel hook. Really quick fight.
Winner James Wilks by Submission (Heel Hook) in Round 1
Bisping says Mills was a favorite.
Lightweight Fight: Martin Stapleton vs. Dan James
Recap: Stapleton took him down early, got his back, and finished him with the rear naked choke.
Winner Martin Stapleton by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in Round 1
Lightweight Fight: AJ Wenn vs. Ross Pearson
Recap: Almost the entire first round was spent in the clinch with Ross landing big knees. Ross landed a couple of knees at the very end of the round and AJ was saved by the bell. Ross dropped him early in the 2nd and pounded him out for the victory.
Winner Ross Pearson by TKO in Round 2
Bisping says that Ross reminded him of himself.
Welterweight Fight: Tommy Maguire vs. Nick Osipczak
Tommy says he fights because, "he can't sing and he can't act and it beats work." The first guy to show any personality. He's also a ginger.
Recap: Tommy almost won with a guillotine but Nick pulled out. On the feet, Nick used his range to pick apart Tommy and finished him with a knee.
Winner Nick Osipczak by KO in Round 1
Welterweight Fight: Alex Reid vs. Dean Amasinger
Alex calls himself "The Reidinator" and wants to see in his opponents soul.
Recap (Fight Highlights): Dean took him down and just controlled him in round one. Then he did the same thing in round two. Alex kept asking Dean to hit him and "wooing" as he was on his back. The fight went to a third round where Dean dominated on the feet. Dean almost kept getting caught in a triangle the entire fight.
Winner Dean Amasinger by Decision
Welterweight Fight: James Bateman vs. David Faulkner
David trains with Bisping at Wolfslair. Bisping says David has all the tools but is mentally weak.
Recap: Dave worked really hard for a takedown and finally got it. On the ground he quickly locked in a heel hook for the win.
Winner David Faulkner by Submission (Heel Hook) in Round 1
Bisping is happy that his teammate is joining him in Vegas.
Dana says that Vegas is neutral territory. Bisping is very happy with his UK team.
End Show
Next Week: Team USA elimination fights.
Show Thoughts: Fine show. I personally don't like these elimination fight episodes but that's just me. More of the same next week.
The story behind the Reidinator and Dean was that Dean was dominating in the stand up each round, then would inexplicably take Reid down where he would get caught in a triangle all 3 rounds. The triangles in rounds 2 and 3 were deep, but the round 3 triangle was at the end.
All in all the Brits seemed much more humble than the typical cast of the Ultimate Fighter. Maybe they'll pull away from drunken house tension and focus on fighting this year.
Posted By: BIg Daddy Gary (Guest) on April 02, 2009 at 09:34 AM
I liked Hendersons's comment to Bisping, "There's gonna be subtitles all over this thing hey?" lol.
Posted By: Wyku (Guest) on April 02, 2009 at 02:12 PM
I made some observations watching this:
1) Amateur wrestling does not appear to be that popular with the fighters. The Brits fight a lot like the Brazilians, but with more Muay Thai.
2) It's going to be interesting to see how the more technique-centric Brits handle the more power-centric Americans. Of course, the best fighters in TUF are always the ones that do both well, but we didn't really see how the Brits handle pressure because most of the fights were very one-sided.
3) This appears to be a really deep cast of Brits, basically because they don't get picked over every 6 months as the American fighters do.
Posted By: King Durin (Guest) on April 02, 2009 at 10:37 PM
The point about wrestling is definately going to be a big factor in this series. Because we dont do wrestling at school over here at the best most of these fighters are only going to have a very short amount of wrestling training in comparison with some of the Americans. I really hope that doesnt mean we are going to get a lot of Lay N Pray if the Americans get a takedown and realise the Brits cant get out so easy.
Posted By: Ste (Guest) on April 04, 2009 at 06:43 AM
