411's The Ultimate Fighter 8 Report 10.01.08: Episode 3

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 10.01.2008

It's the first house episode of the Ultimate Fighter, which means it's time to pick teams and then make fun of the other team because they have a different coach. Plus we have the first elimination fight and one man already causing trouble.

The Ultimate Fighter 8
Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir
Episode 3

Previously: 8 Light Heavyweights and 8 Lightweights won and are now in the house. Some guys looked dominant, some guys got hurt.

Opening Video

Everyone moves into the house and starts grilling and drinking. Ryan is on the show to get his name out there. I hope that means he does something stupid, gets kicked out, and EXC signs him. Junie, already drinking like the alcohol is limited, was raised to be tough. Kryzsztof (who I will forever refer to as Kryz because I'm lazy) had his first fight 5 years ago. Someone removes a pan from the stove and it's on fire. He blows on it and it just goes out. Pretty cool visual and I'm sure it happens a lot and people on Top Chef do it for effect but I stay out of the kitchen and if I do cook, I'm not trying to catch anything on fire. Brian and Karn have fractured noses. Brian and Karn are going to be pissed if they get sent home.

They arrive at the gym for the team selection and Dana asks Brian and Karn to come forward. He says the NSAC is suspending them for 180 days, which means they're being sent home. Instead of leaving, they walk to the corner and sulk. There's like 8 seconds of silence before Dana says, "go ahead guys, you have to walk out the door there." Awesome. They bring back Kyle and a Lightweight to be named later. Seriously, they didn't name the guy. It's like one of those pro sports trades where someone gets a player to be named later in return and he always ends up sucking. This guy is the official last pick, which I guess is good for everyone in the gym because no one wants to be last.

Mir wins the coin flip and chooses to pick the first fighter over the first fight.

Team Mir: Kryz, Vinny, Eliot, Tom, Junie, Shane, David, George

Team Nogueira: Ryan, Shane, Kyle, Jules, Phillipe, Efrain, John (the hugger), Mystery Man

Dana says the first fight will be at 205 and Nog gets to choose the match up. Both coaches think they have the stronger team. Based on what I remember from the past two shows (nothing), I like Mir's team better.

Mir teaches his guys an overhead right followed by a leg kick. Ken Hahn is Mir's assistant coach in stand up and Robert Drysdale is the jiu-jitsu coach for Mir.

Junie mouths of to Team Nog at the house. He wants to fight everyone right now. This man gets drunk, cusses, and wants to fight everyone. Already the star of the show. He asks someone to whip his back and call him Kunta Kinte. Junie wants to jump off the balcony and into a tree. Someone says Junie is going to be worse than Chris Leben this season. Junie begins crying near the pool. They drag him in the house and throw a blanket over him.

I should note that upon going to break, they already show a preview of next weeks show and it has Junie being held back at the house, guys about to fight at the house, Dana White showing up at the house, and Junie jumping into the Octagon ready to kill someone. I no longer care about this episode and I'm ready for next week.

Everyone speculates who is being brought back to the house. It ends up being Roli. I don't remember this guy. He lost to George apparently. At the training session, Nog says he loves coaching. Dan Valverde is Nog's jiu-jitsu coach and Al Stankie is the stand up coach. Al is 67 years old and has a lot of energy. He's awesome.

Nog picks Ryan to fight Tom. Tom trains with ATT in Orlando and is a very good wrestler. Tom thinks that Team Nog is underestimating him.

Back at the house, Kryz decides to screw around with Team Nog. He decides to shrink wrap the bed and clothes of Ryan and the rest of Team Nog. Kryz hopes to start a prank war between the teams. It's all fun and games until windows get smashes and Forrest's door gets busted.

Ryan is fighting out of Arizona and was an all-american at ASU. Both guys have a wrestling background so I hope we're not in for a boring fight. Nog calls Ryan the golden boy of his team.

Team Nog gets home and sees their stuff missing. They don't think Team Mir would mess with their stuff because they don't think Team Mir would want retaliation. They notice their clothes shrink-wrapped to the diving board. Ryan finds his bed shrink-wrapped with his clothes. Kryz denies that he had any part of it.

Dana thinks their wrestling will cancel each other out and that someone will get knocked out. Both guys make weight.

Nog and his team come to the house for dinner. Nog thinks that if they don't make it in fighting, they can make it in cooking. Team Nog thinks Team Mir is jealous of their bond. Junie thinks they're all, "gay as hell." Nog thinks Ryan is ready to go and in a good state of mind before the fight.

Light Heavyweight: Ryan Bader (Team Nog) vs. Tom Lawlor (Team Mir)

Fight Recap: They had some good exchanges on the feet but Ryan got the takedown and ended up in half guard. Ryan pounded on him from half guard and then landed a diving punch that knocked Tom out cold.

Winner: Ryan Bader by KO in Round 1

Team Nog is excited that they got the first win. Mir says Tom made a mistake by not exploding up and that's when he got caught.

Next Week: Shane tries to fight Efrain, Junie tries to fight everyone. A hoarse Dana White gives a house lecture. A fight at 155.

Show Comments: Pretty good opening house show. Based on this week and next weeks preview I conclude that there's no way Junie makes it to the end of the season. The shrink wrap prank was great because it was a funny prank that everyone took in stride because no one was really harmed by it. Next week looks great with the house drama so that should be fun. One thing I noticed during the training sessions is that Nog and Mir really care about the show and training the guys, which is great because it always seems like there's one coach who just doesn't care. These two are like all the great TUF coaches rolled into one.