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 10 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Episode 10 Re-Cap
"Shocked and Awed"
Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz

Last week Kris McCray and Brad Tavares advanced into the semi-finals. At the end of the show Dana dropped a bomb shell on Chuck when he told him that Tito had turned down the fight and was going to have back surgery. The tease this week is if Dana will fire Tito from The Ultimate Fighter. We will also have the last quarterfinal fight on this show as Jamie Yager will fight Josh Bryant.

Dana says it's the first time a coach has pulled out of a fight on the Ultimate Fighter because of an injury. Chuck is pissed and is dropping a ton of beeps. Dana tells Chuck he's still going to fight after the show. Chuck is OK with that he's just pissed that Tito backed out of the fight.

Middleweight Quarterfinal Fight- Jamie Yager (2-1) (Team Ortiz) vs. Josh Bryant (10-0) (Team Liddell)

R1- Josh hit a good counter right hand early in the fight that knocked Yager back but Yager was able to clinch before Josh could inflict any more damage. Yager landed a good knee against the cage. Yager landed a couple of strikes and then kicked Josh in the balls. Yager landed a couple of inside leg kicks. There was a crazy sequence where Yager jumped up for a front kick and his leg got stuck on top of Josh's head. Josh ran him back into the cage but Yager ended up on top and landed some strikes. Josh came forward and landed a good strike that took Yager down. Yager landed a good up kick that stopped Bryant from immediately capitalizing. Josh took top position but couldn't do anything before the round ended. Tough round to judge. Josh landed the best two shots of the round but basically did nothing besides land those two punches. Bryant did get the only knockdown so I think you have to give him the round.

R2- Josh kicks Yager in the balls early in the round to even the score. Yager is doing a good job keeping Josh off balance with the kicks he is throwing. Josh came forward and threw some strikes but Yager landed a knee to Josh's body. Yager tried a kick but Josh was able to get a take down into side control. Yager quickly got to his feet and was able to land a strike on the way up. Yager landed a front kick. Yager continues to land leg kicks and he landed two that you could tell hurt Bryant. Bryant landed a knee but Yager returned the favor. Good fight, both guys giving it their all and engaging. Bryant landed a left that took Yager down and then he jumped on top. Josh was able to land some good elbows. I've got Bryant 20-18 but I could see the first round going to Yager. Yager took a long time to get back to his corner after the round ended. Dana said the judges declared the fight a draw and they are going to a third round.

Yager can't answer the bell and Mazzagatti calls the fight in favor of Bryant.

Winner: Josh Bryant by TKO (Ref Stoppage) R2

"I would have never, ever expected that from Yager. To not answer the bell for the third round"- Dana White
"It's one thing to come in and play the game and everything else. It's another thing to quit on the stool."- Dana White
"He got hit with those first two punches and he wasn't the same the rest of the fight. He didn't like that. He didn't like that at all."- Dana White
"That was the best fight since we've been here. That was a good fucking fight."- Dana White

Post fight Tito calls Yager a pussy and storms off. On the next scene they are shown taking Yager away to the hospital.

"You can teach someone how to fight but you can't teach them to have heart."- Tito Ortiz

Dana came into Tito's locker room and pulled him out to talk to him. Dana tells Tito that he has a doctor's appointment for him tomorrow in LA to get a second opinion. Dana tells Tito that tomorrow is his last day. Tito questions him but Dana tells him that he is going to start the process now and that they've made another fight for Chuck. Tito looks visibly shaken up. Tito says he's never been fired at anything in his life and it's hard to swallow.

"If Tito thought he wasn't 100% he should have never come on the show"- Dana White
"This is not the last of Tito Ortiz"- Tito Ortiz

Tito didn't say anything to his guys. He just took off and left. Dana gave him time to go talk to his guys but that didn't happen. Dana called Tito's team back into the training center from their van. Dana told them that Tito was done because he pulled out of the fight. Tito's team was shocked that Tito didn't say anything to them. Dana tells the guys that somebody else has signed on to fight Chuck and that he is in route. He promises the guys that they will have good coaching. Tito comes to the house to talk to the guys later that night and say his goodbyes.

Dana gets everyone together at the training center and he goes to announce the first fight and they abruptly cut to commercial in the middle of him talking. First fight is Brad Tavares against Court McGee. So that leaves Kris McCray against Josh Bryant in the second fight.

Next they show a man walking into the training center from behind and then they show Rich Franklin highlights. They cut to Rich and Dana standing together and Team Ortiz coming into the Training Center. Dana says that because this happened he has over compensated. He says "let me bring in the assistant coaches" and they go off the air as the door opens.

"Dana called me and said 'I need a big favor. Tito's hurt, he's not going to be able to fight Chuck.' I said I'll do what you need me to do."- Rich Franklin

I think at this point I don't see a clear favorite to take this. All of the guys have their strengths and weaknesses but seem like they are on the same level.

Middleweights Remaining:
Brad Tavares (Team Liddell Pick #5)- defeated James Hammortree (Decision), Seth Baczynski (DQ)
Court McGee- Injury Replacement (Rich Attonito)- lost to Nick Ring by Decision in 1st Round, beat Hammortree by Guillotine Choke in 2nd Round
Josh Bryant (Team Liddell Pick #4)- defeated Kris McCray (Decision), Jamie Yager (TKO)
Kris McCray (Wildcard Selection)- defeated Kyacey Uscola (Submission) and Kyle Noke (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)
Kyle Noke- defeated by Kris McCray (Decision)
Seth Baczynski- eliminated by Brad Tavares (DQ for Illegal Soccer kick to the head)
Jamie Yager- eliminated by Josh Bryant (TKO)

TUF Season 11 Episode 5 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Episode 5 Re-Cap
"If It Breathes, It Bleeds"
Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz

Last week we had two fights with Jamie Yager and Rich Attonito both advancing. Team Ortiz finally got a win and is trailing 3-1 but now has the opportunity to pick the next fight. Tito gets to pick his first fight of the competition and picks Kris McCray to fight Josh Bryant. Looks like a good pick by Tito in my book.

Clayton McKinney had surgery so he won't be coming back to fight in the wildcard spot. Tito apologizes to Clayton McKinney for saying that he lacked heart when he was really injured. Clayton flicks him off when Tito turns his back. Dana says Josh has knockout power in both hands and has great wrestling. Chuck has to leave again and is leaving John Hackleman in charge.

"I'll be taking over the reigns but in reality he'll be calling the shots like John Gotti did when he was in prison"- John Hackleman

"Don't turn the channel. Don't get up for a coffee or soda or popcorn. It's not gonna last that long"- Kris McCray

Middleweight Fight- Kris McCray (5-0) (Team Ortiz) vs. Josh Bryant (10-0) (Team Liddell)

R1- McCray landed strikes early and then got a take down. McCray took Bryant's back and tried to go for an arm bar but lost his position. McCray briefly worked a clinch and then got a take down but couldn't hold it. McCray got another take down but couldn't complete it and Bryant picked McCray up and dumped him on his back. Bryant tried for a really sloppy Rear Naked Choke and quickly lost it and gave up position to McCray. Neither guy dominated but McCray took the round 10-9.

R2- McCray looked really tired when the round started and Bryant hit a couple of strikes early. Bryant landed a couple more really good clean strikes. McCray hit a knee but got taken down. Bryant tried to work a kimura but the fight went back to their feet where Bryant landed a couple more shots. McCray showing a good chin. McCray landed another knee and then ate a slam. McCray got a take down with a minute and a half left in the fight but was not able to do much from the top because of his conditioning. Bryant stayed busy on the bottom and while he didn't land anything substantial he did stay busy. Bryant took this round to even up the fight 19-19 on my score card.

R3- They clinch and both guys just look exhausted. This is a frustrating round. These guys knew they were going to be on TUF. Unless they just had a huge adrenaline dump why didn't they come into the house in shape with this opportunity that they have? Three and a half minutes into the round and neither guy has done anything to win the fight. Still clinching against the cage and both guys resting/struggling for a take down. Bryant shows some sign of life after Herb Dean splits them up and he lands some strikes. McCray went for a really weak take down and basically gave top position to Bryant with less than a minute left in the fight. Bryant went for the mount and McCray gave up his back. Bryant went for a Rear Naked Choke but again didn't have good position. Bryant clearly won this fight as he just had more in his gas tank than McCray did.

Winner: Josh Bryant by Decision

"McCray comes out after the first round and looks completely gassed. Completely gassed"- Tito Ortiz
"I was like Damn I'm tired"- Kris McCray

Team Liddell goes up 4-1 and takes back control of choosing the fights.

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. Nick Ring (Team Ortiz Pick #1)
4. Brad Tavares (Team Liddell Pick #5)- defeated James Hammortree (Decision)
5. Court McGee (Team Liddell Pick #6)
6. Rich Attonito (Team Liddell Pick #2)- defeated Kyacey Uscola (DQ- Illegal Knees)
7. Joe Henle (Team Liddell Pick #7)
8. Josh Bryant (Team Liddell Pick #4)- defeated Kris McCray (Decision)
9. 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)