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TV Reviews
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The Ultimate Fighter
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 9/17: Hyden's rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV By Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
Sep 17, 2008 - 9:21:52 PM
The Ultimate Fighter review
September 17, 2008
By Frank Hyden
The show opens and Dana White is about to address the fighters and set-up the qualifying fights. Some dude passes out. The question becomes why did he faint? The guy's name is Phillipe Nover and he says he passed out from the Las Vegas heat. That's not good for him because UFC runs a lot of events in Vegas. Frank Mir and Antonio Nogueira are announced as the coaches and we immediately move to training. The guys have to fight in 2 days so everyone has to make weight. Most of the guys are either at weight or very close. Jason Guida, the brother of UFC fighter Clay Guida, is having immense trouble cutting weight. He's sweating and retching and cramping in an effort to do it. When it comes time to weigh in he's at 207. That's 1 pound over the limit. The doctor says he can't safely lose any more weight so his time on the show is over. Some of the other fighters rightfully complain about him not being at fighting weight already. Mike Stewart is brought in as a replacement for Jason. Mike is put right to work.
FIGHT 1- Mike Stewart vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
This is a very short fight as Krzysztof gets the early TKO. Not a whole lot to it.
WINNER- Krzysztof Soszynski by TKO
FIGHT 2- Fernando Bernstein vs. Dave Kaplan
This fight is longer as they open with punches and then exchange kicks and more punches. They go to the ground and eventually Kaplan gets the win via Rear-Naked Choke.
WINNER- Dave Kaplan by Rear-Naked Choke
FIGHT 3- Joe Duarte vs. Phillipe Nover
They exchange a little before Joe gets hit low. He shakes it off after a rest. They tie up and some foot stomps are thrown. They dance around in a hug a little more before Herb Dean separates them. They throw some big hits then go to the ground before the round ends. The 2nd round starts with some more exchanges. Eventually Nover get on top and locks on a choke for the win.
WINNER- Phillipe Nover by Rear-Naked Choke
FIGHT 4- Eric Magee vs. Jules Bruchez
Jules escapes a guillotine nicely before winning with the move of the night.
WINNER- Jules Bruchez by Rear-Naked Choke
FIGHT 5- Vinny Magalhaes vs. Lance Evans
Lance is the brother of Rashad Evans. Only quick highlights are shown of this fight. Lance suffers a rib injury and has to forfeit after the 1st round. It's not a good night for guys with a brother already in UFC.
WINNER- Vinny Magalhaes by Injury Stoppage
FIGHT 6- Antwain Britt vs. Ryan Jimmo
Again, only quick highlights are shown of this fight. Britt gets the win.
WINNER- Antwain Britt by Decision
FIGHT 7- Brandon Garner vs. Brian McLaughlin
Garner is winning the fight. He's very aggressive and quick. But he's too aggressive and he knees McLaughlin in the head while Brian is still down on one knee. McLaughlin is light-headed and cannot continue. The fight is ruled a No Contest. However, one of these guys has to advance into the house. The decision is made that McLaughlin will advance because Garner threw the illegal knee.
WINNER- No Contest, but McLaughlin advances due to the foul by Brandon Garner
FIGHT 8- Junie Browning vs, Jose Aguilar
Quite frankly, both guys sound fairly foolish in the taped pre-fight interviews. Junie is very arrogant and dismissive of the other fighters. Perhaps he's just really confident in his own abilities but he's only had 2 MMA fights so far. It's time to stow that kind of talk until he compiles a record worthy of boasting. And Jose keeps spouting off something about being a criminal or something, dog. He's a dictator, dog. That's who he is, dog. He's got a verbal tick equal to Hulk Hogan's.
The fight itself is pretty good. They exchange blows before heading to the ground. Junie seems to be working much harder and the coaches are getting into it. Mir is coaching Junie and Nog is coaching Jose, or trying to. Junie is beating on Jose pretty good and raining elbows down on him. The round ends and Jose stumbles into his corner. For some reason, Jose gives up. It looked like a No Mas situation.
WINNER- Junie Browning by Injury Stoppage
None of the fights tonight were jaw-dropping. There was a lot of controversy early with Jason Guida not making weight. He probably could have lost the 1 pound but he doesn't deserve special treatment. It's dumb to come in that over the weight limit. Apparently he didn't watch last season or he would have known that. Although it should be common sense given that he fights for a living. There was also 3 fights ending early due to injury. Sending Brandon Garner home is a pretty raw deal unless it can be proven that he intentionally kneed Brian McLaughlin while he was on the ground. Someone's been watching their BJJ tapes or taking extra classes because 3 of the 5 other finishes were by rear-naked choke. It's always hard to judge this early but no one has really separated themselves from the pack just yet. Maybe Junie Browning but we'll have to see about that. It appears as though there's a lot of good talent in this group so far. There's still 16 fighters left to go but it's looking like this season will be very even talent-wise.
