Last week the wild card fighters were picked by Dana White and the coaches: Chuck O’Neil (8-3) for Team Lesnar, and from Team JDS, Javier Torres (2-0). This week, Team Lesnar’s Len Bentley really felt that he should have been chosen as the wild card, and would not let it go. So Len decided to take Dana White aside and express his feelings of really wanting to fight in the finale. Mr. White explained that during the elimination interviews he didn’t seem to want it that badly, and that he only wanted fighters in the UFC that were really able to get the point across that they wanted it. Len felt cheated, because he thought that he should have been the number 1 pick.
Brock pulled his entire team to the side, and gave a reality check/pep talk about second chances, how important they are, and how they had to make it clear that they wanted it. Len, of course, was quite pissed at the coaches and the fighters, and did not hold back his disgust at the so-called “wrong choice” by Dana and the coaches for the wild card pick. Some of the guys empathized, but others began to get sick of hearing about it.
Len Bentley felt that Brock was not being fair and was not being a good coach, but Brock explained the decision process, as well as the way Len’s knee injury could have possibly held him back or played a role in the outcome of his fight if he had been chosen. Len seemed more understanding after his talk with Brock.
However, during the training session, Brock watched his wild card pick Chuck O’Neil train, and was not impressed with his motivation. Team Lesnar on the whole did not think Chuck wanted to fight, and that he was not serious about training, nor his upcoming fight.
But Chuck eventually realized that he needed to take training for the fight more seriously, and to stop being a clown 24/7. Brock worried that Chuck had not been paying attention to any of the training thus far, and decided that it was crunch time for training; Brock and his training team decided to give Chuck their undivided attention. Chuck responded well to this concentrated training. Brock felt that it was worth it, and Chuck would fight well.
Meanwhile, this week finally brought some house drama! Every morning Chris Cope would wake up the entire house with screaming and yelling. He claimed that it was an unconscious thing, and that this happens daily, wherever he is. However, this daily wake up call eventually pissed off Shamar Bailey, causing him to confront Cope. Bailey explained that it irritated him so much that he wanted to fight Cope in the cage. However Cope apologized and said he wouldn’t do it again.
Next came the Coaches Challenge…Football? As all the coaches and fighters stood on the field, JDS looked a little hesitant or worried, because everyone knew that Brock tried out for the Minnesota Vikings at one point, and did quite well. But Dana White indicated that the Challenge was more of an agility test than a football test, with a sort of obstacle course that included some throwing and kicking of the football. When they started the run to the first obstacle, Brock seemed to be a surefire winner, but JDS was quick, very light on his feet for a big guy. JDS even threw the football through the octagon shaped hole, while Brock missed. Dos Santos was able to finish the obstacle course ahead of Lesnar, winning the Coaches Challenge, and $10,000! However JDS was a kind and gracious winner, and chose to share some of his winnings with Brock’s team. Brock thought JDS was just lucky.
This week’s episode culminated with the Wild Card Fight. Team Lesnar’s Chuck O’Neil faced Javier Torres of Team Junior dos Santos; both fighters were determined not to let anyone down, and to produce an exciting fight. In Round 1 Chuck threw a nice kick to Javier’s head which Javier blocked, but then he forced Javier against the cage with some shoving and knees. However Javier was able to switch positions, and forced Chuck against the cage. This went on for most of the round, as the fighters spent most of their time against the cage, each taking turns throwing some knees and pushing. Herb Dean did have to break them up due to a knee to Chuck’s package, but this lasted just a few seconds before they were restarted in the center of the cage, where the action resumed with striking, but nothing impressive. Then they were back against the cage again, with knees thrown by both fighters and no real damage done.
In Round 2, both guys threw some strikes, and both were trying to gain positional control inside the Octagon, as you could hear both coaches in the background yelling instructions. Javier then managed to push Chuck to the side of the cage, and then down to the ground with Javier on top, Chuck pushed up to get back to his feet, and was able to take Javier to the ground, then take control with partial side mount. Chuck got hold of Javier’s arm and would not let go for most of the round, as he tried to extend it. From underneath Javier threw some punches, but Chuck managed to get hold of Javier’s neck, forcing him to tap out.
Team Lesnar’s Chuck O’Neil won, bringing the season score to 4-4, tied with Team JDS. The Quarterfinal matchups were announced by Dana, who called out the following fights: Clay vs. Ramsey, Cope vs. Bailey, O’Neil vs. Zach Davis, and Tony Ferguson vs. Ryan. Next week’s show will feature Clay vs. Ramsey, then Cope vs. Bailey. Shamar Bailey wanted to fight Cope because of the breakfast yelling, so this could prove to be an interesting fight. However, we will have to tune in to Spike TV on Wednesday to see how far the grudge will go on the next episode of The Ultimate Fighter.
