TUF Season 9 Episode 4 Re-Cap

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 4

Last week we found out that Dan Henderson gets to pick the first fight for Team USA. The UK fighters have had two weeks off from fighting and some of the US fighters have only had days off. It will be interesting how that affects the US squad in the first few fights.

We start off with Team UK and Michael Bisping introduces his two assistant coaches: Mario Sukata (wrestling and submissions) and Dave Jackson (tae boxing coach). Bisping says that these are his coaches in “real life.” Dan Henderson’s assistant coaches are Gustavo Pugliese (boxing and footwork), Ricardo Feliciano (jiu jitsu) and Cyrille Diabate (Muy Thai, knees and elbows) and Heath Sims (2000 Olympic team member for Greco-Roman wrestling). You may recognize Diabata as he’s a former Pride fighter and also fought on one of the Elite XC/ShoXC shows. His most high profile fights have been losses to Shogun Rua and Babalu Sobral. His most recent fight was a win over TUF Alumni Lodune Sincaid in January of this year.

Dan Henderson picks Mark Miller to fight Nick Osipczak in a Welterweight Fight. Henderson made the decision on who wanted to fight and who could make weight the easiest. I wasn’t particularly impressed with either of these guys in their first fight. They both showed some good skills but neither really stood out in their wins.

Bisping missed the Team USA elimination fights so he and his team go over the tape of Mark Miller’s fight. Then Bisping is shown working with Osipczak on a strategy for the Miller fight. Both fighters make weight. Based on the pose after making weight Osipczak has a clear height advantage which probably also equates to a reach advantage. Later on in the show Bisping talks to his fighter about some videos he watch on Youtube and further explains the strategy to Osipczak.

The US team writes on a Team UK shirt that is left in the house and on some Team UK wrestling shoes that are left at the practice facility.

Welterweight Fight- Nick Osipczak (Team UK) (3-0)vs. Mark Miller (Team USA) (10-4)

Osipczak has a 4” height and 5” reach advantage for this fight.

R1- Nick got a quick take down but couldn’t do anything with it and Miller flipped him over and took his guard and then they went back to their feet. Miller was able to throw Nick down during a flury of punches by both guys but didn’t hurt him. Nick got another take down with about 2 minutes left in the round. Nick couldn’t really do anything and Miller got back to his feet but then Nick grabbed a guillotine and pulled guard and nearly got a submission. Pretty even first round that I score to Osipczak 10-9 as he came closer to finishing the fight.

R2- Miller went for a guillotine early but Nick easily got out of it and had side control but put himself into half guard and Miller grabbed a guillotine attempt again. Nick hit a big right high kick out of nowhere and ended the fight by KO. Not a very impressive showing for either guy. I really can’t see Nick getting past his next opponent but I’ve been wrong before.

Winner: Nick Osipczak by KO (High Kick) R2

Post-match Michael Bisping talks about how he is being a “tactical dick” by bragging about his guy after the fight.

Remaining Fighters:

Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly)
UK- Jeff Lawson (defeated James Bryan)
UK- Martin Stapleton (defeated Dan James)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn)
US- Richie Whitson (defeated Paul Bird)
US- Santino Defranco (defeated Waylon Lowe)
US- Cameron Dollar (defeated Hayden)
US- Jason Dent (defeated Rob Browning)

Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills)
UK- Nick Osipczak (defeated Tommy Maguire, Mark Miller)
UK- Dean Amasinger (defeated Alex Reid)
UK- David Faulkner (defeated James Bateman)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe)
US- Jason Pierce (defeated Berger)
US- Frank Lester (defeated Kiel Reid)

My favorites so far are:
Lightweight: Richie Whitson (USA) and Martin Stapleton (UK)
Welterweight: Damarques Johnson (USA) and David Faulkner (UK)

Eliminated:
Mark Miller defeated by Nick Osipczak (Episode 4)

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 2

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Episode 2

Last week on the debut of the “UK vs. USA” TUF there were 8 fights that decided which UK fighters would be in the house and fighting for Michael Bisping. This week we will get to see the US guys mix it up. This week Dan Henderson is named as the coach of Team USA (since he beat Rich Franklin. Both guys were at the UK prelims last week since they had not fought yet). Just like last year a fighter (Jason Pierce) passed out at the beginning during Dana’s speech. Before the fights they found a herpes sore on a guys head and another guy showed up off weight. So we’ve got issues with 3 of the 16 fighters so far for the US (the herpes guy was sent home). The guy who showed up off weight “quit” so we are down to 14 fighters without a fight happening yet.

Welterweight Fight- Mark Miller (10-4) vs. Kevin Knabjian (10-3-1)

These guys are training partners with each other.

R1- Miller has good hands. He’s not really doing anything else but he looks like the dominate boxer in this fight. Kevin is using more combos of kicks and punches but Miller is ahead after round one.

R2- Kevin landed a couple of punches and Miller went down and Kevin got on top for some Ground and Pound but then went for a leg lock and Miller slipped out. Miller lands some good punches in the middle part of this round and Kevin is trying to hang in there but Mazzagatti stops the fight.

Pretty decent fight. Miller did a good job surviving when he got popped and then did a good job coming back. Miller showed good stand up. I think spending some time with Dan Henderson to help complete his game could make him a tough fighter to beat on this season.

Winner: Mark Miller by TKO (strikes) R2

Lightweight- Richie Whitson (4-0) vs. Paul Bird (4-1)

Whitson trains at Henderson’s gym.

R1- Bird got a quick take down but couldn’t do anything with it. Whitson got in some good strikes and sprawled a couple of times to stop take downs and landed on top and got in some good Ground and Pound. Whitson took his back and got the tapout. Whitson looked pretty sharp in this fight and looks like he has a good overall game.

Winner: Richie Whitson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

Lightweight Fight- Waylon Lowe (5-2) vs. Santino Defranco (13-4)

Dana says before the fight that Defranco made the Season Two roster but during the medicals he was found to have a Brain Aneurysm so he could not be on the show. He had the surgery to repair it and has fought back to be on this years show.

R1- Lowe shot in and got a quick take down. Lowe landed some good Ground and Pound as Santino covered up. Santino pretty much just laid in the fetal position all round long and was slow to get up at the end of the round (think Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring).

R2- Santino landed a good knee to start the round and got a take down and then got in position for a Rear Naked Choke and got the tap. GREAT come back by Defranco after getting destroyed in the first round.

Winner: Santino Defranco by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2

Welterweights- Jason Pierce vs. Berger

Pierce is the guy who feinted due to having trouble making weight. Only highlights are shown of this fight. Dana calls this fight “unimpressive”. I don’t believe Berger was ever given a first name.

Winner: Jason Pierce by Unanimous Decision

Lightweight Fight- Dollar vs. Hayden

Only highlights are shown of this fight. Hayden took him down and got his back and got in some good offense in the first round. More of the same in the second round until Dollar got a Rear Naked Choke and won the fight much like the Defranco fight.

Winner: Cameron Dollar by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2

Welterweight Fight- Damarques Johnson (13-6) vs. Ray Elbe (20-11)

R1- Both guys seem like they have good stand up. Elbe is working in more of a combo of kicks and punches. Johnson gets a take down and mounts quickly. It takes Johnson a while but he gets some good Ground and Pound shot in on Elbe. The ref finally stops the fight. Great showing by Damarques as he looks head and shoulders above the other fighters on today’s show.

Winner: Damarques Johnson by TKO (strikes) R1

There are two more fighters that have to fight in order to get into the house. They will not fight this week due to the two fighters dropping out. Frankie Lester and Rob Browning (Junie’s brother) have been made replacements

“One of them was Junie Browning’s brother. Which was concerning.”- Dan Henderson

Next week we have:
Jason Dent vs. Rob Browning
Kyle Reed vs. Frank Lester

Here is a list of the guys that have already made the show:

Lightweight Fighters:
UK- Andre Winner (defeated Gary Kelly)
UK- Jeff Lawson (defeated James Bryan)
UK- Martin Stapleton (defeated Dan James)
UK- Ross Pearson (defeated A.J. Wenn)
US- Richie Whitson (defeated Paul Bird)
US- Santino Defranco (defeated Waylon Lowe)
US- Cameron Dollar (defeated Hayden)

Welterweight Fighters:
UK- James Wilks (defeated Che Mills)
UK- Nick Osipczak (defeated Tommy Maguire)
UK- Dean Amasinger (defeated Alex Reid)
UK- David Faulkner (defeated James Bateman)
US- Damarques Johnson (defeated Ray Elbe)
US- Mark Miller (defeated Kevin Knabjian)
US- Jason Pierce (defeated Berger)

I liked Martin Stapleton and David Faulkner to most from Team UK and so far I like Damarques Johnson and Richie Whitson from Team USA.