Here we are in the sixth week of the 13th season of The Ultimate Fighter, and honestly, I expected the coaches — at least Brock Lesnar — to dispute and disagree with Junior dos Santos. We were wrong; both coaches have been respectful of and cordial with each other, unlike many past seasons between the coaches. Also, there has been little to no fighter drama in the house, except for Kit Cope, the alleged “spy” for Team JDS. Maybe these guys have watched past episodes and realized that it is pointless to rebel. After all, they have just a short time on the show, and the wealth of knowledge and training they can gain from the top of the fight food chain is priceless.
Last week, when Team Lesnar won the fight, Clay Harvison was the victor but he injured his finger. Team Lesnar decided to turn up the training for the next fight to secure domination, but perhaps the heat setting was too high; his wild card pick Les Bentley injured his knee during grappling and had to be rushed to the hospital. Having two of his fighters injured made Brock sick to his stomach. Fortunately, both fighters found out they were not bad off: Clay dislocated his finger and Len dislocated his knee, but suffered no damage to his ACL. Both fighters were happy with this news.
Meanwhile, on the Team dos Santos side, for the past few weeks coach/trainer Lew Polley has been aggressive with the team, and basically dominating the training. This recurring behavior ultimately brought JDS to the point of not wanting Lew there any longer, and asking Lew to go home. JDS indicated that he felt mad, sad and generally disrespected by Lew. Lew seemed slightly confused by JDS’s decision, but agreed to leave the team. Team JDS talked a little about Lew leaving, but knowing that the show must go on, they continued with JDS and the rest of the trainers.
With Team Lesnar in control, Brock chose Tony Ferguson (10-2) from his side to face Team JDS member Justin Edwards (6-0). Both fighters are wrestlers by trade, which means that the fight had the potential to be nothing more than a wrestling match on the ground with no finish, unless the fighters pushed the envelope throughout the fight. The day of the fight was also Ferguson’s birthday, a day for him to fulfill his dream and destiny. He felt really prepared for a stand up battle, while Edwards appeared cool and calm and preferred a ground game.
Round 1 began with Edwards throwing many combinations with tenacity, with Ferguson trying to keep up with strikes of his own. But Edwards kept on going like the Energizer Bunny! Both fighters kept up the striking in the center of the Octagon until halfway through the first round, when Ferguson started his engine with rapid-fire punches while Edwards slowed down a gear. Interestingly enough, both fighters appeared not to want to take it to the ground. However, with about 1:33 remaining in the round, Edwards took Ferguson to the ground and went on the attack, until Ferguson struck with a sharp up-kick that knocked Edwards out clean. Both fighters fought hard and didn’t hold back, impressing Mr. White, and putting Justin Edwards into the wild card mix.
The next fight Team Lesnar chose was Chuck O’Neil (8-3) vs. Team JDS member Zach Davis (4-1). O’Neil is a ground fighter, but feels he is well-rounded, while Davis (looking like a 12 year old) prefers a cage grind with knees. Round 1 started off with some striking, then a sudden takedown by Davis, though he wasn’t able to hold O’Neil on the ground for long. Davis dominated O’Neil against the cage as he planned, then got O’Neil to the ground again, but while on top, Davis looked unsure of what exactly to do. “What move should I make? Should I try a submission, or perhaps ground and pound?” During this delay, O’Neil tried a few up-kicks, but then stood up. As quickly as O’Neil got up they were back on the ground, this time with O’Neil on top, pounding Davis while Davis attempted to fight back with submissions from his back, eventually succeeding when he secures a triangle choke! Once again, Mr. White was very thrilled with the fighters, and I think the viewers were impressed as well.
With the prelims over, Team JDS ended up with 4 wins, and Team Lesnar totaled 3, bringing us to the 2 wild card fighters. Both Lesnar and JDS picked Edwards as the first wild card fighter, but Dana White explained that he was not cleared with the doctors to fight that soon after that up-kick knockout. So with the input of both coaches and Dana White, Javier Torres vs. Chuck O’Neil was chosen as the next fight. They were the only ones who seemed to genuinely want to fight. Team Lesnar’s Les Bentley had a chip on his shoulder, and Dana and the coaches thought that he might use the injured knee as an excuse if things don’t go as planned, be it in training, fighting or after a tough loss. So we leave the show with Bentley pissed off, and next week he will be confronting Brock about the wild card decision-making.
Next week will also bring this season’s Coaches’ Challenge, as well as the wild card fight and the announcement of quarterfinal matchups. I am actually excited for next week’s show, and I want you to check out next Wednesday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter on SpikeTV.
