Sherdog’s Guide to ‘The Ultimate Fighter’
Scott Holmes May 6, 2010
“Man, I really thought we had this one in the bag,” says Kyacey
Uscola at the top this week’s episode.
Uscola and his teammates were certain that Kris McCray would take out Josh Bryant, but that’s not how the cookie crumbled. Team Ortiz is now down four fights to one and they know they missed a crucial opportunity to take the momentum.
Uscola voices his Tito-coaching concerns to his teammates in the
van ride after the fight.
“I’m scared of this. I’m scared of this overtraining,” says Uscola, while his teammates listened intently.
“I’m proud of you that you went out and did your dizzle,” says Yager.
Other teammates aren’t so convinced by Uscola either.
“I think Tito’s trying to push us to the max and some of us haven’t had that before,” says Hammortree. I’m inclined to agree since this show has turned quite a few mice into murderers over the years.
“For me, it’s kind of like a vacation,” says Ring, noting that the workouts are short and intense, but awfully rewarding.
Once Coach Tito Ortiz catches wind of Uscola’s usurpations, he brings his team together for a pow-wow.
“One apple will spoil the whole bunch,” Ortiz tells the group.
Ortiz then confronts Uscola in front of his teammates, letting the group speak about its feelings until eventually everything is hunky dory again.
Next up is the most exciting part of each and every season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Yes, that’s right -- the coach’s challenge!
This year it’s dodgeball and according to Dana White: “We haven’t had two coaches that hated each other this much since Jens and B.J.”
Liddell took Tito in the
challenge.
White lays out the ground rules and puts the usual
10 grand on the table for the coaches with a thousand dollar bonus
for each of the coach’s fighters. Of course, Chuck
Liddell’s team sweeps Team Ortiz three games to none, which has
Liddell doing his signature post-win, fists-behind-him and
chest-out scream. Ortiz leaves the gym fuming.
“He couldn’t move his feet fast enough,” Liddell tells the camera. “Maybe (it’s) some of the same problem he’s got in the ring sometimes.”
Oh Chuck, you lovable scamp.
On the flip side, Ortiz says he’s never seen Liddell be that animated ever but chokes down the loss.
It’s time to pick this week’s fight and Court McGee does the honors for Team Liddell by calling out Ortiz’s No. 1 pick, Nick Ring. The Canadian fighter gets sassy by holding up a finger to McGee’s face in the staredown and delivers an “Oh, no you didn’t girlfriend” moment, causing the other fighters to fall out laughing.
Liddell’s plan for McGee is to “stay all the way out or all the way in” to deal with Rings’s kicking arsenal. Still, Liddell is confident in his fighter.
“I’m going to put it on him and I’m going to beat him,” says McGee.
McGee has plenty to fight for, confessing to some of the fellas back at the house that he has battled and won over some heavy drug addiction. It’s a harrowing tale spanning Oxycontin to heroin, but suffice to say, McGee’s come through the other side.
Team Ortiz’s Hammortree suffers a terribly painful injury from a slam during training that has him hollering and writhing. This scares his teammates and coach, but later Hammortree is said to be OK.
“The perfect fight for me is that I hit him with my left hand and he falls over, says Ring before his fight with McGee. But it doesn’t go like that.
Oh, no you didn’t girlfriend.
-- Nick Ring to Court
McGee.
At the opening bell, McGee rushes in low for a takedown and puts Ring on his back. There are plenty of leg kicks from Ring once he gets back up to his feet, though. Ring showcases his muay Thai background but never circles in the direction his coach wants him to. Push kicks, knees to the thigh and an inside leg kick are the order of the day, though.
Ring then goes for McGee’s back, and ends up on top for just a minute. Toward the end of the round, he is able to get off some decent shots, but McGee does a good job fending off anything major and springs back up at the end of the round.
In the second round, Ring looks for the leg kicks again. Ring keeps tagging the inside of McGee’s lead leg until McGee finds some punches to slow him down. Ring has trouble with McGee’s hands and only covers up during exchanges, which allows McGee to start teeing off. Just when it looks like McGee might be taking over, Ring gets a little more tactical and starts backing away.
McGee is swinging away at end the round and finishes strong, but it seems like Ring has done just enough to win. While the judges’ scores are being tallied, Liddell gets into a healthy argument with Yager over which of their boys had won which rounds.
Nick Ring wins a majority decision of 20-18, 19-19, 20-18 over Court McGee. Ring says he is happy to take the win, but really wants to have a better showing the next time.
Liddell ain’t having any of it. He openly derides the decision, throws a minor hissy fit and stares down Dana White on the way out of the gym.
“What are you mad-dogging me for?” says White. “He’s going to kick my ass and I’m not a judge.”
Alas, onward we go and next week we will finish out the prelim fights with the only two fighters left -- Seth Baczynski and Joseph Henle.
More » Court McGee reflects on the loss to Nick Ring
Uscola and his teammates were certain that Kris McCray would take out Josh Bryant, but that’s not how the cookie crumbled. Team Ortiz is now down four fights to one and they know they missed a crucial opportunity to take the momentum.
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“I’m scared of this. I’m scared of this overtraining,” says Uscola, while his teammates listened intently.
McCray doesn’t believe that he was a victim of overtraining and
roommate Jamie Yager
isn’t buying into it either.
“I’m proud of you that you went out and did your dizzle,” says Yager.
Other teammates aren’t so convinced by Uscola either.
“I think Tito’s trying to push us to the max and some of us haven’t had that before,” says Hammortree. I’m inclined to agree since this show has turned quite a few mice into murderers over the years.
“For me, it’s kind of like a vacation,” says Ring, noting that the workouts are short and intense, but awfully rewarding.
Once Coach Tito Ortiz catches wind of Uscola’s usurpations, he brings his team together for a pow-wow.
“One apple will spoil the whole bunch,” Ortiz tells the group.
Ortiz then confronts Uscola in front of his teammates, letting the group speak about its feelings until eventually everything is hunky dory again.
Next up is the most exciting part of each and every season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Yes, that’s right -- the coach’s challenge!
This year it’s dodgeball and according to Dana White: “We haven’t had two coaches that hated each other this much since Jens and B.J.”
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“He couldn’t move his feet fast enough,” Liddell tells the camera. “Maybe (it’s) some of the same problem he’s got in the ring sometimes.”
Oh Chuck, you lovable scamp.
On the flip side, Ortiz says he’s never seen Liddell be that animated ever but chokes down the loss.
It’s time to pick this week’s fight and Court McGee does the honors for Team Liddell by calling out Ortiz’s No. 1 pick, Nick Ring. The Canadian fighter gets sassy by holding up a finger to McGee’s face in the staredown and delivers an “Oh, no you didn’t girlfriend” moment, causing the other fighters to fall out laughing.
Liddell’s plan for McGee is to “stay all the way out or all the way in” to deal with Rings’s kicking arsenal. Still, Liddell is confident in his fighter.
“I’m going to put it on him and I’m going to beat him,” says McGee.
McGee has plenty to fight for, confessing to some of the fellas back at the house that he has battled and won over some heavy drug addiction. It’s a harrowing tale spanning Oxycontin to heroin, but suffice to say, McGee’s come through the other side.
Team Ortiz’s Hammortree suffers a terribly painful injury from a slam during training that has him hollering and writhing. This scares his teammates and coach, but later Hammortree is said to be OK.
“The perfect fight for me is that I hit him with my left hand and he falls over, says Ring before his fight with McGee. But it doesn’t go like that.
“
”
At the opening bell, McGee rushes in low for a takedown and puts Ring on his back. There are plenty of leg kicks from Ring once he gets back up to his feet, though. Ring showcases his muay Thai background but never circles in the direction his coach wants him to. Push kicks, knees to the thigh and an inside leg kick are the order of the day, though.
Ring then goes for McGee’s back, and ends up on top for just a minute. Toward the end of the round, he is able to get off some decent shots, but McGee does a good job fending off anything major and springs back up at the end of the round.
In the second round, Ring looks for the leg kicks again. Ring keeps tagging the inside of McGee’s lead leg until McGee finds some punches to slow him down. Ring has trouble with McGee’s hands and only covers up during exchanges, which allows McGee to start teeing off. Just when it looks like McGee might be taking over, Ring gets a little more tactical and starts backing away.
McGee is swinging away at end the round and finishes strong, but it seems like Ring has done just enough to win. While the judges’ scores are being tallied, Liddell gets into a healthy argument with Yager over which of their boys had won which rounds.
Nick Ring wins a majority decision of 20-18, 19-19, 20-18 over Court McGee. Ring says he is happy to take the win, but really wants to have a better showing the next time.
Liddell ain’t having any of it. He openly derides the decision, throws a minor hissy fit and stares down Dana White on the way out of the gym.
“What are you mad-dogging me for?” says White. “He’s going to kick my ass and I’m not a judge.”
Alas, onward we go and next week we will finish out the prelim fights with the only two fighters left -- Seth Baczynski and Joseph Henle.
More » Court McGee reflects on the loss to Nick Ring
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