The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Episode 11 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Episode 11 Re-Cap
"A Will To Win"
Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz

Last week Josh Bryant took out Jamie Yager by second round TKO and Tito Ortiz was booted by Dana White and Rich Franklin was brought in as his replacement. Brad Tavares, Court McGee, Josh Bryant and Kris McCray are the 4 fighters left and they will fight on this episode.

To start the show they have Dana and Rich touring the upgrade UFC facilities and Rich signing the contract to fight Chuck Liddell. Rich has one week to get Kris McCray ready for his semi-final fight. Because of Tito leaving Dana said that he is overcompensating with the assistant coaches. He brings in Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard and Tyson Griffin to be Rich Franklin's assistant coaches.

Middleweight Semi-Final Fight- Court McGee (5-1) vs. Brad Tavares (4-0)

Dana says it will be a close fight but he picks Court to win. Both of these guys are from Team Liddell. Tavares has a 2" height and McGee has a 2" reach advantage.

R1- Court got a take down after two minutes of even fighting but Brad was able to get to his feet without taking any damage. Court got another take down near the end of the round but Brad popped back up. Court hit a good strike up against the fence. Close round, Court 10-9.

R2- Court hit a good right that briefly backed up Tavares at the 90 second mark of the round. Tavares is starting to connect with some shots and he's opened a very small cut on Court's nose. Really close round, I give it to Tavares.

R3- Court hit a good leg kick that buckled Tavares and he was able to land a good strike afterwards with about one minute left in the round. Court hit a low blow and right when they restarted Court landed a good left right to Brad's chin that sent him sprawling backwards. Court followed up with two right hands to the side of the head and then Court picked him up and slammed him. Court jumped on him and submitted him with a Rear Naked Choke. Great finish by Court. Good showing by both guys. Good fight.

Winner: Court McGee by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3

"This was a dog fight right from the beginning...incredible fight"- Dana White

Dana brings in some of the Marines to train with the guys. They wanted to show the guys some of the things they do for their conditioning. They also showed how to defend themselves if someone comes at them with a gun or knife. The fighters showed the Marines some of their ground fighting. After the training the Marines came over to the house for a cookout with the fighters and coaches.

Hammortree and Yager got into it over flour and trash. Looks like we could be setting up for an Ultimate Finale showdown. Yager says something to Kacey on the way out of the room. Kyacey gets pissed and challenges him to a throw down in the back yard. Yager didn't go outside to meet Kyacey.

"You're mine"- Kyacey Uscola to Jamie Yager
"Please, Please give me Jamie Yager in the finale"- Kyacey Uscola

Middleweight Semi-Final Fight: Josh Bryant (10-0) vs. Kris McCray (5-0)

These guys fought earlier in the season and Bryant won by decision in 2 rounds. McCray says that he did overlook Bryant going into the fight. This will be McCray's 5th fight in 6 weeks. McCray has a 2" height advantage but Bryant has the 2" reach advantage.

R1- McCray got caught early with a left and was briefly floored. McCray got a take down at the one minute mark. Bryant got up and McCray took him back down again. McCray landed a good right around the one minute mark and then they clinched. McCray landed some knees in the clinch. Bryant hit a good right towards the end of the round. Good action in the first round. I've got McCray 10-9.

R2- McCray landed some good shots to open up this round. McCray looks like he's tiring a lot as the fight goes on. I've got McCray taking this round so he's up 20-18 on my score card.

R3- McCray got a take down with 3 minutes left but Bryant clearly grabbed the cage to stop it. Both guys are tired. Looks like Bryant's mouthpiece is out as he spits blood onto the mat. McCray hit a couple of good shots that Bryant took and stayed standing. Good fight. I've got McCray 30-27.

Judges score cards: 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 McCray

Winner: Kris McCray by Decision (Unanimous)

"Never had an undefeated coach in the history of TUF. Until now."- Rich Franklin as he points to himself

Court McGee vs Kris McCray is the final.

TUF Season 11 Episode 8 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Episode 8 Re-Cap
"Closed Mouth Don't Get Fed"
Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz

Last week Seth Baczynski defeated Jon Henle by decision to advance. Court McGee was given Rich Attonito's spot in the next round. Kyacey Uscola and Kris McCray were given the wildcard spots so they will face off to see who advances to the next round.

Kyacey finds out his son is born at the beginning of the show and they let him have a phone call to talk to the mother of his child.

Middleweight Fight- Kyacey Uscola (18-15) vs. Kris McCray (5-0)

Kyacey has a 2.5" reach advantage. Kyacey got DQ'd for an illegal knee in his fight versus Rich Attonito and McCray lost to Josh Bryant by decision were McCray started to gas as early as the second round.

R1- Kyacey landed a good shin/leg kick at the one minute mark and McCray reacted visibly to the shot. Kyacey rushed in but got clinched. McCray landed some strikes in the clinch against the cage. McCray hit a low blow and they restarted. Kris tried a judo throw but Kyacey sprung out of it and both guys landed shots on the way back to their feet. Kris picked up Kyacey and took him to the mat. Kris landed a couple short elbows on the mat. Kris 10-9.

R2- McCray got a take down in the first twenty seconds of the fight. For someone who has 33 fights, Kyacey is horrible on the ground. McCray goes for a kimura and Kyacey taps. McCray looked a lot better in this fight then he did in his first fight.

Winner: Kris McCray by Submission (Kimura) R2

Dana sits down with Chuck and Tito to pick the fights for the next round and asks Chuck who the best 4 fighters are. Chuck takes a while to answer. My answer is Yager, Noke, Tavares and Ring but I could be wrong. Yager and Noke are definitely the top two so far in my book based on what I've seen. Tito says the 4 that I listed.

"Tito's over there shaking his head saying 'yeah he's buddies with Chuck he's going to give Chuck whatever he wants' and Chuck's going "you gave the big crybaby exactly what he wanted"- Dana White
"It's a no win situation...Go with your teams psychos and let me figure this thing out"- Dana White

Dana's Picks for the Semi-Finals:
Nick Ring (Team Ortiz) vs. Court McGee (Team Liddell)
Kyle Noke (Team Liddell) vs. Kris McCray (Team Ortiz)
Brad Tavares (Team Liddell) vs. Seth Baczynski (Team Ortiz)
Jamie Yager (Team Ortiz) vs. Josh Bryant (Team Liddell)

"We have a shot at winning every one of these fights....Can you guys send Tito home if we do that? Please? For me?"- Chuck Liddell

Forrest Griffin comes to the house and brings UFC Undisputed 2010 on the 360 and says they get a 2 hour reprieve to play the game. Great product placement by UFC. They TUF guys sell the game. Somebody knocks Forrest out with Tito Ortiz while playing against Forrest.

Nick goes to the doctor to get his knee checked out. The doc tells him he has little tissue and says he might need a third ACL reconstruction down the road. Ring says he might be able to get 1 or 2 more fights in or he might go ahead and get the knee fixed now. Dana comes to the house to talk to Nick. Nick says it's not smart to continue in the competition and doesn't think he can win. Says long-term it's the right decision.

"The doctor told him 'if he wanted to take this fight he could take this fight"- Dana White

Dana pulls the guys together. Tells them that Nick blew his knee out and they need to pick someone to replace him. Joe Henle thinks the spot is his because everybody else is hurt. After Dana leaves James Hammortree gets up and follows Dana outside and tells Dana he wants to fight. Dana comes back in and says that Hammortree asked him for the fight and he's giving it to him. After this Joe finally steps up and says he wants in if anybody else losses.

"Hammortree was the guy that stepped up to the plate. Throughout all the seasons do you know how many guys I've seen that wouldn't step up for a fight even if I went and asked them?"- Dana White
"This guy chases me out the door to tell me he wants to fight. Your getting the fucking fight"- Dana White
"Closed mouth don't get feed"- Jamie Yager

Middleweight Fight- Court McGee (9-1) vs. James Hammortree (5-1)

Interesting fight as both of these guys have a loss already on the show.

R1- Hammortree stuffed an early shot. Court grabbed a kick and was able to clinch and then take down Hammortree but he couldn't hold him down. Both guys swung and it looked like Hammortree got the better of the exchange. Both guys look like they have openings they just aren't being very aggressive in taking them as they don't want to be the one that makes the mistake. Hammortree landed a couple of good strikes but then got taken down. Hammortree was able to get back to his feet with about 90 seconds left. McGee went for a spinning back kick and Hammortree took Court down but Court was able to reverse positions. Pretty close round but Court got it with the take downs. McGee 10-9.

R2- Hammortree went for a take down and Court grabbed him in a guillotine and tapped him out. Good finish by Court. Not Tito's best moment as a coach there telling Hammortree to go for a take down when Court obviously had the superior wrestling in the first round.

Winner: Court McGee by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R2

"That was for my dad. It was his birthday today"- Court McGee

Middleweight Rankings:
1. Jamie Yager (Team Ortiz Pick #4)- defeated Charles Blanchard (TKO (Strikes) R1)
2. Kyle Noke (Team Liddell Pick #1)- defeated Clayton McKinney (Triangle Choke R1)
3. Brad Tavares (Team Liddell Pick #5)- defeated James Hammortree (Decision)
4. Court McGee- Injury Replacement (Rich Attonito)- lost to Nick Ring by Decision in 1st Round, beat Hammortree by Guillotine Choke in 2nd Round
5. Josh Bryant (Team Liddell Pick #4)- defeated Kris McCray (Decision)
6. Kris McCray (Wildcard Selection)- defeated Kyacey Uscola (Submission)
7. Seth Baczynski (Team Ortiz Replacement)- defeated Joe Henle (Decision)

Eliminated:
Clayton McKinney by Kyle Noke (First Round)
Chris Camozzi- left due to injury
James Hammortree by Brad Tavares (First Round)
Charles Blanchard by Jamie Yager (First Round)
Rich Attonito- left due to injury after beating Kyacey Uscola in first round by DQ
Joe Henle by Seth Baczynski (First Round)
Kyacey Uscola- defeated by Kris McCray (Wildcard Round)
Nick Ring- left due to injury
James Hammortree- defeated by Court McGee (Second Round)

TUF Season 11 Episode 6 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Episode 6 Re-Cap
"Did Your Dizzle"
Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz

Last week Josh Bryant of Team Liddell outlasted Kris McCray of Team Ortiz and Team Liddell took a 4-1 lead and Liddell regained the ability to pick the next fight. Some of the guys on Team Ortiz look a little beatdown and are complaining of "over training". Tito brings the guys together to talk to them about their issues with the training. He also reminds them they still have 2 more fights and then the wildcard.

This is the "Coach's Challenge" episode and this season it's dodgeball. The first team to win 3 games wins. The winning coach gets $10,000 and each fighter on the team gets $1,000. Chuck's team won 3 games to 0. Chuck is a beast at dodgeball.

"We picked off Tito quite a bit because he couldn't move, he wasn't moving his feet fast enough. Same problem he has in the ring ring sometimes."- Chuck Liddell

Chuck picks Court McGee to fight Nick Ring. Dana says Nick is one of the guys that they think can go all the way but he can't doubt the success Chuck has had so far. Chuck says he wants to take out Tito's best guy. McGee tells the story of his rough past with drugs and alcohol. James Hammortree got hurt on a take down and they took him out on a stretcher. Hammortree comes back and they think it might just be a bulging disc and luckily it's not as serious as originally feared.

"I'm gonna put it on him. I'm gonna put it on him and beat him"- Court McGee
"This season is just adding up to craziness. My work is cut out for me"- Tito Ortiz

Middleweight Fight- Nick Ring (Team Ortiz) (10-0) vs. Court McGee (Team Liddell) (9-1)

R1- Court got a quick take down but Ring got to his feet without taking any damage. Ring starts to land some leg kicks. Ring stuffed a take down and tried to take McGee's back but gave it up and instead took half guard. Ring was able to land a few strikes but nothing that really looked like it hurt McGee. I gave the fight to Ring due to him really controlling the last half of the round.

R2- McGee is landing some good strikes in this round after taking a few leg kicks. McGee was able to take this round by keeping it standing and landing the better strikes. I've got the fight at one round a piece. Ring started to come on towards the end of the round but McGee ended with a flurry. Liddell and Jager have some spirited discussion before the decision about how the rounds went.

The judges score the fight: 20-18 Ring, 19-19, 20-18 Ring

I'm more than a bit surprised about that decision. Not sure how Ring won that last round and Chuck agrees with me.

Winner: Nick Ring by Decision (Majority)

"You give the first round to Ring. You give the second round to Court McGee. That's why I always tell these guys don't ever let it goes to the scorecards"- Dana White
"That was embarrassing. That was an embarrassing decision for them"- Chuck Liddell

So Team Liddell is up 4-2 and the only first round fight left is Jon Henle (Team Liddell) against Seth Baczynski (Team Ortiz).

Here are my way too early rankings based only on the first three TUF shows. Rankings will change drastically after the first round of fights I am sure.

Middleweight Rankings:
1. Jamie Yager (Team Ortiz Pick #4)- defeated Charles Blanchard (TKO (Strikes) R1)
2. Kyle Noke (Team Liddell Pick #1)- defeated Clayton McKinney (Triangle Choke R1)
3. Brad Tavares (Team Liddell Pick #5)- defeated James Hammortree (Decision)
4. Nick Ring (Team Ortiz Pick #1)- defeated Court McGee (Majority Decision)
5. Rich Attonito (Team Liddell Pick #2)- defeated Kyacey Uscola (DQ- Illegal Knees)
6. Joe Henle (Team Liddell Pick #7)
7. Josh Bryant (Team Liddell Pick #4)- defeated Kris McCray (Decision)
8. Seth Baczynski (Team Ortiz Replacement)

Eliminated:
Clayton McKinney by Kyle Noke (First Round)
Chris Camozzi- left due to injury
James Hammortree by Brad Tavares (First Round)
Kyacey Uscola by Rich Attonito (First Round- DQ'd Illegal Knees)
Charles Blanchard by Jamie Yager (First Round)
Kris McCray by Josh Bryant (Frist Round)
Court McGee by Nick Ring (Majority Decision)

TUF Season 11 Episode 1 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Episode 1
Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz

Dana brings all the guys together in the re-modeled UFC gym. He tells them this year they will do things a little different. He says they will have a "wild card". He says there are 28 fighters. 14 will get into the house. After the first 7 preliminary fights the coaches and Dana will choose 2 guys who they think deserves a second chance. Those two guys will fight each other and the winner will get the 8th spot in the Quarterfinals. He tells them not to leave it in the hands of the judges and the referees. He tells them not to blow their shot.

"Never Leave It In The Hands Of The Judges" is painted on the top of the entrance to the locker rooms.

Jamie Yager (2-1) vs. Ben Stark (3-1)

Yager has a crazy afro. Ben Stark calls himself the "Hebrew Hammer".

R1- Yager is aggressive early and is throwing a lot of kicks. He hits a front kick and then takes Stark out with a head kick. Big time showing by Yager. One of the most impressive debut fights on TUF i've seen.

Winner: Jamie Yager by KO (Head Kick) R1

Jordan Smith (10-0) vs. Brad Tavares (4-0)

Smith is a 7th grade teacher. He tries to get through the day without "ripping someones head off at the grocery store." Tavares is a Hawaiian who likes to fight.

R1- They clinched against the fence and Tavares landed a big right hand that knocked out Smith.

Winner: Brad Tavares by KO (Punch) R1

Cleburn Walker (9-3) vs. Kris McCray (5-0)

McCray says he's the most ferocious guy in the group.

R1- McCray landed a good judo throw early and Walker tapped out as his shoulder popped out of joint during the slam. Then McCray did a running back flip off the cage.

Winner: Kris McCray by Submission (Injury) R1

Norman Paraisy (5-1) vs. James Hammortree (5-1)

Paraisy was raised in France. Hammortree is a firefighter/EMT. He saves people and also beats the crap out of people in the cage.

R1-Paraisy got a quick take down but couldn't do anything with it. Hammertree got on top of Paraisy and landed some Ground and Pound. Hammertree was landing some good Ground and Pound at the end of the round. Paraisy was talking about quitting in between rounds. John Hackleman was his corner man and wasn't happy.

Winner: James Hammortree by Submission R1

"If you did that in my gym don't come back. Just don't"- Chuck Liddell
"There is no quitting in the game of MMA. Are you kidding me"- Tito Ortiz
"Paraisy's big thing was he was going to come on the show and prove that the French aren't a bunch of pussies. (laughs) Not that I'm calling anybody a pussy but (laughs) he should probably get another job"- Dana White

Fight Highlights are shown next

Nick Ring (10-0) vs. Woody Weatherby (7-3)- highlights

Tito said Nick picked Weatherby apart.Ring won by Ground and Pound.

Kyle Noke (16-4-1) vs. Warren Thompson (5-0)- highlights

I've seen Noke fight before. Probably for Elite XC. Liddell said this was a one-sided fight for Noke. Thompson bleed a ton in this fight. 20-18 on all three score cards in favor of Noke.

Court McGee (9-1) vs. Seth Baczynski (11-5)- highlights

Tito said these guys were swinging for the fences right off the bat. Dana said McGee was dominating the first round before he got caught with a big punch. Second round was even and the judges declared the fight a draw after two rounds. Court won the fight in the third round by decision by using his wrestling.

Victor O'Donnell (8-1) vs. Chris Camozzi (12-3)

R1- Camozzi caught him with a nice knee that bloodied O'Donnell's nose. O'Donnell answered with a good punch.

R2- Both guys swinging for the fences early. O'Donnell hit a big punch that looked like it hurt Camozzi. Camozzi hit a good judo throw. O'Donnell got a driving take down. Looked like a good fight from what was shown. Judges declared the fight a draw and they went to sudden victory.

R3- O'Donnell hit a good left and then got a take down. Camozzi landed some good knees in this fight. Camozzi hit another nice judo throw. O'Donnell was finishing a take down right at the buzzer for the round. Dana, Tito and Chuck gave the guys a standing ovation.

Winner: Chris Camozzi by Decision

Kyacey Uscola (18-15) vs. Brent Cooper (5-1)

Cooper likes to punch people in the face. Uscola says he fought a bunch of fights that he never should have taken and that's why he's 18-15 but feels he can take the guys on this show.

R1- Cooper landed a good combo but Uscola caught Cooper and then jumped on him and finished him. Good showing by Uscola.

Winner: Kyacey Uscola by TKO (Strikes) R1

Joe Henle (3-0) vs. Constantinos Philippou (5-1)- highlights

Constantinos dominated the fight but Henle got an arm bar for the win.

Winner: Jon Henle by Submission (Arm Bar)

Rich Attonito (7-3) vs. Lyle Steffens (5-2)- highlights

Rich won by using his wrestling.

Winner: Rich Attonito by Decision

Josh Bryant (10-0) vs. Greg Rebello (9-2)- highlights

Greg landed some good shots and Josh tried to out wrestle Rebello.

Winner: Josh Bryant by Decision.

Jacen Flynn (8-2) vs. Charles Blanchard (7-2)- highlights

Blanchard worked his top game well in this one and landed some good Ground and Pound.

Winner: Charles Blanchard

Charley Lynch (6-0) vs. Clayton McKinney (4-2)

McKinney has a half green hair and half black. These guys are apparently friends outside of the cage.

R1- McKinney got a driving take down early but couldn't do anything with it. McKinney got a good judo throw but Lynch again got right to his feet. McKinney landed some good strikes and landed a knee but slipped and Lynch took his guard. McKinney landed some good shots and bloodied Lynch and broke his nose.

Winner: Clayton McKinney by TKO (Punches) R1

Teams get picked next week. So we've got 14 guys in the house. They will fight and then after the first round two of the losers will be re-picked to fight again for a spot in the quarterfinals. Anyway, after watching the fights and highlights here is my totally unprofessional rankings for the fighters in the house after just a brief look at them:

Middleweight Rankings:
1. Jamie Yager
2. Kyacey Uscola
3. Kyle Noke
4. Clayton McKinney
5. Kris McCray
6. Brad Tavares
7. Nick Ring
8. Chris Camozzi
9. James Hammortree
10. Court McGee
11. Charles Blancard
12. Rich Attonito
13. Joe Henle
14. Josh Bryant