The Tool Review 10.07.08: The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 (Disc 2)
Posted by on 10.07.2008
Welcome back to the house where it all began! Chris Leben gets drunk and bad things happen, Bobby Southworth shows his classiness, Nate Quarry gets some bad news, and more fighters are eliminated from the competition to crown the first "Ultimate Fighter!"
If you’ve been waiting for this then I apologize. Technical difficulties held up my review of this first season but we’re back on track now. If you missed the review for disc one than you can check it out right here.
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER: SEASON 1 (DISC 2)
Episode 5 - “Uncaged”
We start with a recap of the Diego Sanchez/Alex Karalexis fight from the previous episode. Chris Leben said that he likes Alex but that was a piss-poor performance. Stephan Bonnar and the rest of Team Couture lament the fact that they lost again.
Around the house people are starting to get on each other’s nerves. Nate Quarry talks about how they have nothing else to do and they just think about fighting all the time. Leben thinks he’s going to fight after the next challenge so he goes through his pre-fight ritual of dying his hair blood red.
Team Liddell trains with Tom Fries, or as Chuck likes to call him, “Tom-Tom.” Time for the TRAINING MONTAGE~! It’s a long one too. You might want to grab a snack.
Dana White stops by the house and says he’s going to take the fighters out tomorrow night. White says the guys need to get out of the house so he’s taking them to the Hard Rock Casino for some food and what-not. And there was much rejoicing. Leben offers his housemates a pact: they’ll all drink equally so that one of them doesn’t end up being “the drunk guy.”
Team Couture do some sparring at the gym, and Randy explains how the whole process works. During the sparring session Nate Quarry goes down holding his left leg. You know it’s serious because they start playing the dramatic music. The replay shows that Couture and Schoenhauer were training on takedowns when they fell back on Quarry and he went down awkwardly. The doctor takes a look at Quarry’s leg and they take him to the hospital to get an x-ray.
Quarry comes back to the house later that night on crutches. He says his ankle isn’t broken but there may be some damage to the ligaments. He says it’s swollen up so bad right now that he can’t even move it. Schoenhauer apologizes to Nate but Quarry says that it was 100% an accident.
The guys get ready to go out. Kenny Florian has the best line of the show when he looks at himself in the mirror and says, “I’d do me.” Leben says he’s been cooped up in the house so long he may just explode once they’re let out. Leben mocks Florian’s low-cut jeans and Koscheck takes offense to that and talks some shit to Leben. The fighters get to their bus and Dana says he wants everybody to have fun, but not get too drunk. Good luck with that.
At dinner Leben says some of the guys started getting pretty drunk. He says Bobby Southworth was talking some shit to him from across the table.
BACK AT THE HOUSE it’s 1:30 in the morning and some of the guys are pretty lit up. Diego is out and he has to have Florian and Southworth carry him to bed. Koscheck tries to fuck with Diego in his bed and Diego starts flipping out.
Meanwhile, in the back yard a lot of the guys are having some laughs at Diego’s expense and Southworth tells them to knock it off. Leben talks back to Southworth and invites Bobby to knock him out. They get into each other’s faces and Mike Swick has to play peacemaker. Southworth calls Leben a “fatherless bastard.” Everyone else tries to get them to calm down and Leben is clearly upset. Southworth tries to make peace and Leben tries to break his beer bottle over his head. Southworth apologizes and the two guys hug. Quarry calls it “the most transparent apology” he’s ever heard. Swick says that when Bobby called Chris a fatherless bastard he crossed the line, because they all know that Leben has some real issues there. Quarry plays therapist to Leben and tries to help him. Leben calls Nate “a great friend.” Nate and Chris share a manhug and Chris decides to sleep outside. Koscheck wants to spray Leben with a water hose while he’s sleeping on the lawn.
Around 3:30, Koscheck and Southworth are still outside drinking while their housemates sleep. Kos wants to throw some stuff in the pool. They then decide to go around the front and spray Leben with the hose while he was sleeping. Leben gets up and immediately takes his shirt off. In a voiceover he says that all he remembered was waking up and seeing Bobby and Josh laugh in his face, and he doesn’t remember anything else after that. Leben smashes the front door and walks into the house, creating a path of destruction along the way. Bobby Southworth, ever the class act, follows along giggling like a school girl.
Leben sees Bobby and starts to move towards him. Leben says that before he was going to hit Bobby he had the thought that he didn’t want to throw away this opportunity for a “bottom feeder” like Southworth. Nate Quarry steps in and notices Leben is dripping blood. He takes Chris outside and they talk about what happened. Koscheck and Southworth stay inside with the rest of the guys that are all up now. The van shows up to take Leben to the hospital and Chris yells from the van that he’s not coming back. Alex Schoenhauer says that Koscheck and Southworth did that to Leben so that they could try to get Chris kicked off the show.
Forrest says that he was dreaming that God was yelling at him, only to wake up and find out that it was Chris Leben yelling at him. Leben had broken down his door and was yelling for Josh Koscheck. Forrest can’t understand what is going on. Koscheck and Southworth are still laughing about it. The rest of the guys talk about what’s happened and Swick tells the guys that they can expect a visit from Dana tomorrow. To put the final comedic touch on the whole experience, Schoenhauer closes the broken door so that Diego Sanchez (who is blissfully unaware of any of this) can continue sleeping.
The next morning Dana says that he got a call from his secretary at 7 am, telling him that a fight broke out at the house last night. Dana meets with Randy and Chuck to figure out the situation.
Back at the house, the guys are cleaning up the blood that is all over the house from Leben. Southworth tries to defend his actions, but really, the guy’s a jerk. Koscheck admits that it was bad judgment but he didn’t tell Leben to punch the window and break the door down.
White and the coaches all agree that Leben is a great fighter, but he’s got some issues. Randy doesn’t want to lose one of his best guys. Dana says that the worst one is Bobby Southworth, saying that he’s got a real attitude problem. Dana decides to bring the guys in to tell their side of the story and then they’ll decide what to do. All of the guys involved are nervous about what’s going to happen at the meeting.
Leben and Quarry meet up with the powers that be first, and Leben shows them the missing part of his knuckle. It’s pretty nasty but Chuck says, “I’d fight with that.” The guys tell the story of what happened and Leben apologizes for breaking the stuff around the house. Quarry says that he backs up Leben all the way, and Chris was in the right.
Bobby and Josh are up next in the principal’s office, and they give their story. Southworth says that they never actually sprayed water on him because Chris woke up. Of course, we then see the video footage of them spraying water directly on Chris. Southworth claims that he can’t remember what he said to Chris that got him so pissed off. Again, the footage is cued up and we can see Bobby calling him a fatherless bastard.
Once the guys leave Dana discusses the situation with the coaches and then they decide to watch the tape. Why the hell didn’t they watch that first? At the house, the guys try to figure out what’s going to happen. Forrest says that Chris talks a lot of shit but can’t really take it. That being said, he agrees that Bobby and Josh shouldn’t have bothered the guy once he decided to sleep on the lawn. Dana says that this is such a serious issue that he had to call in Lorenzo Fertitta (one of the co-owners of the UFC) to help him sort this out. They decide that because Chris and Josh can’t live in the same house, they’re going to fight. Chuck tells Josh while Randy informs Chris. Leben says that’s “the best thing you could’ve told me.”
Leben says he gets to crush Josh’s skull in, and not go to jail for it.
Episode 6 - “The Fight Is On”
All the fighters meet at the gym to hear Dana’s verdict on the incident. Dana says that all the alcohol has been removed from the house, the guys have to pay for all the damage they did, and if anybody gets into a fight at the house, they’re done. Randy tells the guys that they’re supposed to represent this sport with honor, and so far they’re letting him down. Bobby thinks that the decision is bullshit, considering that him and Josh have to help Chris pay for the crap he broke. Josh also calls bullshit and says Chris is nervous to fight him.
Back at the house some of the Team Liddell guys (including Koscheck and Florian) talk shit about Chris and Randy. Josh says he almost walked out when Randy gave his “ambassadors of the sport” speech. Nate talks about how Chris lost a big chunk of skin on his left hand, and he’s a southpaw. Both Josh and Chris say how much they want to beat/hurt the other guy.
Dana explains that some of the best fights in the UFC have been between guys that don’t like each other. We get video of the first Chuck/Tito fight, as well as Matt Lindland vs. Phil Baroni. Ortiz makes another appearance with Ken Shamrock. What does that say about Tito? Dana says that these guys have built up a real hatred in the house and it should be a good fight.
Team Couture trains and Leben works on defending takedowns. Randy thinks that Chris can knock Josh out. Chris says that if Josh wins it’ll be because he held Chris down and squeaked out a victory, but if he wins it’s because he knocked Josh’s jaw across the cage.
Team Liddell has their training session and Chuck tells us that he’s been preparing Josh to fight Chris the whole time, because he knew they would be fighting each other. Koscheck talks about how he’s training with Diego and Kenny because they’re southpaws so that should help him be ready for Leben. The montage footage shows Koscheck doing takedowns the entire time. Shouldn’t he be learning something new? Chuck calls time and Koscheck is having trouble getting back up. He talks about how Chris has been doing this a lot longer than him but Josh still plans to come out on top.
Back at the house Forrest is letting some of the guys punch him in the face. He talks about how there’s a lot of tension and boredom in the house, and we see Forrest climbing up on the rocks around the pool. Kenny talks about how Forrest is ready to kill somebody in the cage. Forrest does his monkey impression for the guys and talks about how bored he is at the house.
Koscheck is in the sauna with Chuck and Bobby, and he starts doing an impression of Bobby’s pissing and moaning from a few episodes ago. Chuck is cracking up but Bobby is NOT AMUSED. Chris also takes a few shots at Southworth while he sits in the sauna. He says that destroying Josh Koscheck is the reason he was put on this earth.
WEIGH-INS~! Both fighters make weight and Dana breaks down the fight. That is all.
Nate Quarry goes to the doctor to have his ankle looked at. The doctor says that he has a significant sprain and will need an MRI. Dana says that if the MRI comes back positive and Nate has to have surgery, he’ll have to be eliminated from the competition.
We get the pre-fight interview from Koscheck and he says that he’s confident in his abilities. He says everybody in the house is sick of Chris and he’s representing everybody that doesn’t like the guy. Some of the other guys sit around and speculate on who they think will win. Josh Rafferty talks about Leben’s heavy hands, bringing up the fact that he knocked out Swick. Leben gives his pre-fight interview and says that he’s a shoe-in and there’s no chance Josh can beat him. He says that if he crippled Koscheck he wouldn’t feel bad at all.
ELIMINATION FIGHTS: MIDDLEWEIGHTS - Chris Leben (15-1) vs. Josh Koscheck (4-0)
Josh blows Chris a kiss from across the cage. Dana explains that the fight will be two rounds, and if the judges declare it a tie we’ll go to a third. Our referee is Herb Dean.
Round 1
Chris fakes a few punches to start and eventually wades in with a left hook. Josh shoots in but Chris sprawls out and makes him eat a knee. Back to the center Chris fakes a few more punches but Josh backs up. Chris tries to come in for a few more shots but Josh backs up and then drops down for a double. Chris sprawls for a second but Josh pushes him back and takes him down. Josh lands on top in Chris’s guard. Leben works hard to control Koscheck’s posture, but Josh still lands some punches to the body and head. Dean warns Koscheck about hitting the back of the head. Josh can’t posture up and continues to throw some weak shots. Josh knees Chris in the butt a few times. Koscheck lands a few elbows to the head but Dean doesn’t like the action and stands them back up. Back on the feet Chris tries to land a few shots but Josh drops right back down and grabs a single. Chris sprawls and gets back to his feet before Josh picks him up and SLAMS him down. Josh lands a few elbows and postures up but Chris explodes back to his feet and chases Josh down as the round ends. There’s no real doubt as to who’s ahead at this point. Koscheck got him down and kept him down to win the first round.
Round 2
Chris tries to press forward but Josh drops down for a double. They pull apart and Koscheck just misses with a knee to the head. Josh comes back in with a big overhand right that misses and Chris tries to counter, but Josh shoots in. Chris sprawls out and they separate, but Josh shoots right back in and takes him down into the half guard. Koscheck presses him against the fence and Chris keeps him close to control the posture. Chris throws some punches to the body from the bottom and Josh lands a few weak shots from the top. Chris tries to sweep but Josh is staying nice and heavy. Koscheck can’t pass and Dean tells him to work. Chris grabs the left arm for a kimura but Josh pulls out and stays on top. Koscheck is still stuck in the closed half guard and Herb Dean stands them back up. Josh immediately shoots in and Chris is able to sprawl for a few seconds before they go down. Koscheck lands in Chris’ guard and throws some punches. Leben tries to pull his right leg up and work for an omoplata but Koscheck puts a stop to that. Koscheck lands a few more shots as the round ends. Even though he never came close to a finish Josh did certainly maintain octagon control and should win here.
Winner: Josh Koscheck, Unanimous Decision
Both fighters talk shit after the fight. Koscheck tells Leben to take his bus ticket home. Chris asks Josh why he didn’t fight, and says that nobody wants to see fighters lay around on the mat the whole time. Leben walks out and says that he’s not done with Koscheck.
Dana and the coaches break down the fight. Randy says that keeping him down like that is Leben’s worst nightmare. Dana thinks that Chris gave Josh too much credit and he should’ve let his hands go more. Chuck says that the biggest thing Koscheck did was take Leben out of his game. Randy calls it a picture perfect gameplan. With the win Team Liddell goes to 3-0 in the elimination fights.
Leben sits outside the training center and cries. Randy gives him a pep talk and Dana tries to cheer him up as well. Stephan Bonnar reminds us all that he’s still on this show and says that the guys will miss having Chris around. Leben gets in the van and leaves the show forever. OR DOES HE?
Episode 7 - “Ground And Pound”
We get a quick recap of the fight, and some of the other fighters in the house break things down. Quarry points out the obvious which is that Koscheck held Leben down and didn’t land any significant shots. Swick says that this is The Ultimate Fighter, not the Ultimate Wrestler. Bonnar wishes Koscheck would’ve gotten warning cards for stalling. Of course, these are all Team Couture guys. Randy does point out that Leben should’ve focused more on defending the takedowns instead of loading up his fists for the KO shot. Southworth and Koscheck talk plenty of shit about Chris back at the house.
Quarry points out that with his injury and Chris leaving, Team Couture has no middleweights. This means that one of the guys from Team Liddell will have to switch teams.
Forrest talks about Sam Hoger, saying that he hasn’t really liked the guy from day one. Southworth makes fun of Hoger because he can’t figure out how to turn on the grill. Florian says that nobody on the team likes Hoger and part of it is because he has just been eating whatever he wants and apparently has “sausage tits.” Hoger himself says that they haven’t been teammates with him at all and he’s been nice to all of them. DISSENTION~!
The teams meet at the gym with Dana to re-balance things out. Chuck looks at his guys, says “This sucks,” and picks Josh Rafferty to move over to Team Couture. Rafferty doesn’t like the decision, and he takes his new jersey off pretty quickly. Quarry says that Rafferty isn’t likely to earn the rest of the team’s trust, so he should just stay with Liddell’s guys.
Team Liddell has their training session at the YMCA so some of the guys do some swimming or shoot hoops. Forrest talks about how he wants to win the next team challenge so he can pick who he wants to fight. In a rare three-man interview, Florian, Koscheck, and Forrest talk about how their team is too good and they will have to fight each other. They can’t even remember how many fights and challenges they’ve won. Hoger thinks that his teammates are starting to rest on their achievements.
Team Couture works out at the gym and none of the guys are liking the fact they keep losing. Couture talks about how they need to gameplan better and be more aggressive to start winning. Some of the guys talk about how Rafferty has made no real effort to bond with the team, but they also point out that it’s only been a few hours since he joined.
Back at the house, Rafferty says that the team is different but it’s really just the same guys he’s been living in the house with (except for Randy of course). However he still thinks it sucks and he misses his friends already. Bonnar, Swick, and Schoenhauer give Rafferty some shit and Josh points out that mixed-martial arts isn’t a team sport. He also doesn’t join the guys to play cards because he thinks that cards are “stupid and gay.”
Team Liddell gets home and Rafferty immediately wants to hang out with them again. Southworth talks about how the house is a lot more quiet and peaceful now that Leben is gone.
We’ve got vans, and we’re heading to the desert for another pointless team challenge with the light heavyweights. Dana talks about how Chuck loves to win so he’s been rubbing this whole thing in Randy’s face. The teams meet up and we’ve got a Willa Ford sighting! It’s kind of funny that we’re into the third episode on disc two and this is the first time we’ve seen the “host.” Challenge time!
1. All of the guys will be attached to a steel ring, with flags all around the ring.
2. Each member has to get two flags of their color and the first team to get all six of their flags wins the challenge.
3. The winner gets to pick the next fight.
They’re off, and Bonnar gets the first flag. Schoenhauer grabs the second giving Couture an early 2-0 lead. Southworth grabs one but then Swick gets the next. Forrest can’t quite reach his next one and the Couture guys drag the circle back over so Schoenhauer can get one. Hoger can’t make the next grab but Forrest picks it up. Swick gets the next one, Bonnar drags them over to the final flag and TEAM COUTURE WINS SOMETHING!
Quarry talks about how nice it is to finally win one, but Team Liddell says that it doesn’t matter because they’ll still win the fight. Koscheck and Florian tell Southworth that they don’t think Hoger was really trying. Diego goes so far as to imply that Hoger has something worked out with the other team. Florian thinks that Sam is taking the loss too lightly.
Team Couture sits around to try and decide the next fight. Swick and Schoenhauer both want to get in there, and Swick points out that they shouldn’t pick off Hoger even though he’s the weakest guy on the team. He says that the rest of the team hates Hoger so they’re worse off with him there. Bonnar talks about how he’s wanted to fight Southworth for awhile, but he’d rather fight somebody he can stop so he can win some money.
The teams meet up at the house and Dana announces that Stephan will fight Bobby. Stephan says that he’s doing it for Randy and his teammates because they want Bobby out of there. The fighters head to the gym so they can start cutting weight. Kenny points out that they’ve got more guys there this time to hold Bobby in the sauna. Stephan says that everybody think he’s a wimp and they underestimate him. He also talks about how his first two pro fights were in a tournament and he stopped both of his opponents to win the belt.
WEIGH-INS~! Bobby comes in right at 205 and Stephan makes 206. Bonnar says that he’s going to win this fight for Chris, Lodune and Randy. Southworth says he didn’t come here to win one fight, he came to win it all.
ELIMINATION FIGHT: LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS - Stephan Bonnar (7-1) vs. Bobby Southworth (8-3)
The on screen graphic says that Steve Mazzayatti will be the referee. Hmm…put a moustache on him and he’d look just like Steve Mazzagatti.
Round 1
After a short feeling out process, Stephan throws a few quick jabs. Bonnar presses forward and Bobby nails him with a straight right. They exchange again and Bobby gets the better of it. Stephan presses forward but Bobby backs away. Stephan ties up and they press against the cage. Bonnar throws a quick knee inside and takes Southworth down. Bobby powers up but they stay tied up and Bobby takes him down. Stephan has full guard and is controlling the wrists. Stephan moves to the right and Bobby lands some big shots to the body. Bobby tries to pass but Stephan uses the cage to get up and the break apart. Stephan starts to press forward and let his hands go so Bobby ties up against the fence. Bobby circles out and Stephan breaks away. Stephan tags him with a spinning back kick and starts to press forward again. Stephan gets him against the cage and lands some nice shots. They circle back to the center and Bonnar continues to press the action as the round ends. It was a close round but with the way it ended I’d be willing to give it to Bonnar.
Round 2
Bobby lands a leg kick early. Bonnar presses forward and they exchange before tying up. Bonnar drops down for a single and gets him down. Stephan works in the half guard but Bobby uses good wrist control. Bonnar gets into full guard and lands a few shots to the head. He starts to posture up but Bobby is able to get out from under him. The tie up on the ground and Bobby briefly tries for a triangle. Stephan gets out of that quickly and ends up back in the full guard. Mazzagatti doesn’t like the action and stands them back up. Bonnar continues to press forward and lands a few punches. Bonnar tags him with a big overhand right and Southworth tries a knee. They tie up against the fence and Stephan throws some knees inside. They break apart and circle back to the center. Bobby tags Stephan with a nice right and his teammates are yelling “he’s hurt!” Bonnar composes himself pretty quickly and continues to push the pace. They exchange and tie up against the fence, and Bonnar takes him down. Stephan postures up to deliver some punches and Bobby pushes him over and lands on top. Bobby passes to side control with ten seconds left but Bonnar powers back up. The horn sounds and Bonnar lands one last punch. Another close round but Bonnar was the more aggressive one so I think he’ll be taking this.
Winner: Stephan Bonnar, Split Decision
Randy says that he thought they’d be going to a third, but Bonnar’s aggression is what put him over in the judges’ eyes. Chuck thinks they got robbed but admits that anything can happen when it’s left to the judges. Dana also thinks there should have been a third but he understands the decision. The rest of Team Liddell is upset, and Bobby flips off his teammate Sam Hoger as he’s leaving the cage. Bobby bitches and moans to Dana afterwards and complains about the judges’ decision.
I will NOT be missing that guy.
Episode 8 - “Sprawl ’N Brawl”
We start with a quick recap of the Bonnar/Southworth battle, and the other guys in the house break things down. Stephan says that he knew it was close but he’s happy he won. Quarry points out that Stephan was pressing forward the whole time and Bobby was backing up. Diego says that Southworth’s style is to pick his shots and he almost knocked Stephan out in the second. Dana again says that he thought there’d be a third round. Bobby bitches and moans about the decision, as does Koscheck. Forrest says he respects Stephan but the fact is that he didn’t win the fight. He also states that he would believe that no matter what color his shirt is.
Dana goes to Bobby’s dressing room to talk to him and Bobby says that he doesn’t want a pep-talk. Bobby mouths off to Dana and they exchange words. Dana says that if Bobby wants to do this for a living he needs to realize that he’s the boss and you don’t talk to him that way. Dana says that he always wondered why Bobby hasn’t made it to the next level and now he understands. Dana calms him down and explains that even though they may have thought it should’ve gone to the third, it doesn’t matter what they think. It’s all up to the guys sitting around the cage and that’s the risk you take when it goes to them.
Koscheck says that the team will definitely miss Bobby, and Forrest calls Southworth the leader of the team. Diego thinks that it’s bullshit that Bobby went home on a controversial decision. Hoger says that almost all of the team will miss Bobby, but he won’t.
Nate Quarry and the coaches meet with Dana and Nate finds out that he’ll have to have surgery and leave the show. Couture puts over Nate and says that the team will really miss him.
The next morning, Hoger decides to go on a run with Team Couture. He figures he can run with the other team and then make it back to the gym in time to practice with the rest of his team. They get a little lost and Hoger is late for practice. Chuck is pissed because Hoger was supposed to be sparring with Forrest. Forrest doesn’t really mind because he can’t stand the guy anyways.
Back at the house Forrest informs Florian and Koscheck that Hoger went to run with Team Couture. Hoger shows up and the rest of the guys lay into him. Koscheck calls him “a piece of shit” and flips him off. Hoger thinks that the team may be on rocky ground for a few days but they’ll get over it.
Dana calls the guys to the gym to announce that Nate has to leave the show. Dana puts over Quarry and states that Nate will stay on as an assistant coach for Randy. Dana announces that Quarry gets to pick the fighter that gets to come back and take his place. Koscheck immediately starts laughing once he hears this. Quarry gets hugs from some of the guys and in a great little moment he hugs Forrest and says, “I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow.”
Nate speculates on who he’ll bring back as he packs up his stuff to move out of the house. He gets more hugs from his teammates (and Hoger) and then he’s gone.
The next morning we see some feet getting out of van, the door opens and Chris Leben walks back into the house. The rest of his teammates (and Hoger) are all real happy to see him. Leben finds out that Stephan beat Bobby and he’s super-happy about that. Hoger tells Chris that Josh was sweating about Chris coming back.
Koscheck and Diego get ready in the bathroom while they lament the return of Leben. Chris meets up with Koscheck at the dinner table and immediately wants to shake hands. Chris tells Josh that he beat him fair and square, and Koscheck seems to be willing to be cordial. We’ll see how long that lasts.
If we’re in the desert it must be time for another wacky team challenge. This week the middleweights will be the ones competing. Willa Ford earns her paycheck and explains the rules.
1. Only two team members from each team will compete.
2. The two teammates will be chained together and will have to drag a heavy bag through the mud.
3. First team to cross the finish line wins. Winning team gets to pick the next fight.
THEY’RE OFF! Leben and Rafferty get an early lead while Florian and Koscheck try to catch up. They can’t do it though and Team Couture wins their second challenge in a row. Koscheck is PISSED and takes his frustrations out on his muddy boot.
Team Couture meets at the gym and talk about the potential fight. Chris says that he thinks he could knock Kenny out. He also says he’d like to fight Koscheck again. Leben also speculates that Rafferty could fight Kenny but Josh thinks that would be a bad match-up for him. Stephan tries to talk Rafferty into fighting Florian, but Josh isn’t really going for it. Leben would rather not fight since he was just in there a week ago, but he’ll fight anybody they tell him to.
Dana meets up with the guys at the house and Randy announces that Rafferty will fight Sanchez. Dana says that it was an insane pick and Josh should’ve gone for Kenny, but he thinks Rafferty didn’t want to fight Florian because they’re friends. Rafferty tells Koscheck and Florian that they’re all bad match-ups for him. Rafferty tells Diego that it’s an honor to fight him and no matter what they’ll still be friends. They shake hands but there’s some tension there as well.
Team Liddell works out and Chuck explains that he wasn’t mad that Hoger worked out with Randy’s team, but he is pissed that he missed the team workout. Chuck talks to Hoger and calmly explains that Hoger is not to miss any more team workouts. Koscheck explains that the rest of the team decided to really take it to Hoger while they were sparring. Forrest says that Sam is a traitor and he’s going to pay the consequences.
In the pre-fight interviews Diego says that he was surprised Josh picked him but he’ll do what he has to do. Josh talks about how he was picked second to last and he’s been an underdog the entire time. We intercut with the weigh-ins and Josh comes in at 182 ¼ while Diego weighs 183 ½.
Rafferty trains and says that he’s going to be patient and wait for Diego to come in so he can land the right shots. He says it may make for a boring fight but he’s going to stick to the gameplan and win the fight.
Team Liddell trains at the YMCA and Diego says that Josh wants to fight the best, and that’s Diego. Sanchez says he’ll be looking for the early finish because he may have to fight again next week. We get a little montage of Diego stretching and taking pills while he talks about how good of shape he’s in at the moment. He then talks about how his back has been giving him problems. He gets some Icy-Hot from Forrest and then gets wrapped up in plastic (because the instructions say to wrap the infected area). Apparently it helps a little bit. Koscheck watches Diego get wrapped up and talks about what a weirdo he is.
The next morning Diego jumps rope and does yoga. Outside. In a storm. He talks about the energy of the storm and how he’s a “zen master.” Okay then. The rest of the guys speculate on the fight and even Rafferty’s teammates have to admit that it’s a bad match-up and Diego is a big favorite. Josh says he came here to fight the best guys and right now that’s Diego.
ELIMINATION FIGHT: MIDDLEWEIGHTS - Diego Sanchez (12-0) vs. Josh Rafferty (11-3)
Our referee in charge is Steve Mazzagatti. No on-screen graphic for him this time.
Round 1
They circle to start and Diego presses up against the cage. He drops down and grabs Josh’s leg to take him down. Diego immediately passes to the mount and starts dropping some big punches. Josh tries to roll his hips but Diego stays heavy and starts to unload. Josh is defending some, but Diego is landing plenty. Mazzagatti is keeping a close watch but he’s still letting it go on. Rafferty rolls and gives up his back and Diego lands a few punches before easily sinking in a choke and getting the tap. Just complete domination from Diego.
Winner: Diego Sanchez, submission (rear naked choke), round 1, 1:48
Dana says that Josh didn’t land a single punch, kick or anything. He also think Diego could’ve submitted Josh a lot quicker but he wanted to punish him and send a message to the rest of the guys in the house.
For those of you keeping score at home, Team Liddell is now 5-1 in the elimination fights and 4-2 in team challenges.
The 411: I'll be holding back my final score until the review of this set is done. Come back next week for the last round of regular season episodes as we get closer and closer to the big finale!
