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TV Reviews
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The Ultimate Fighter
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 10/29: Hyden's rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV By Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
Oct 29, 2008 - 9:27:03 PM
The Ultimate Fighter review
October 29, 2008
By Frank Hyden
The show starts in the dressing room after Junie Browning defeated Roli Delgado by split decision. Frank Mir is very upset with Junie, telling him that he could have very easily lost that fight due to his poor conditioning. Junie's upset with himself as well. The next day at Team Mir's training session Vinny Magalhaes is very confident in himself. Krzysztof Soszynski hurts his thumb while rolling on the mat. He thinks it might be fractured but he'll continue on regardless of any pain. Vinny is excellent on the ground.
At Team Nogueira's training session the guys are training yet they also have fun with each other. We'll see how well this works but at least they don't dread training. Team Mir's training is also unconventional, but in a much more intense way. They're working on explosive conditioning by wearing head gear with snorkels taped to them. They also have their noses taped shut. All of this is done to restrict their oxygen intake while they exert themselves in short, 5 minute bursts. After their intense training they get to jump into tubs full of ice for 3 minutes. Mir is really pushing them hard and this might be the difference in the fights.
Jules Bruchez and Phillipe Nover both bake a cake for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's birthday. Some of the other fighters get in on the cooking and they all have a big dinner for Nogueira that night. Team Nog is having a good time and bonding and acting like brothers. Shane Nelson is being a d-bag, as is Vinny. They can't seem to stand the fact that they act like a family. I'm not a big fan of it myself but I also don't act like a fool and complain about it all the time or question their manhood.
Frank Mir announces that the next fight is Jules vs. Vinny. Jules is more of a stand-up fighter whereas Vinny is a tremendously talented jiu-jitsu guy. He's world-class on the ground but he's been training more stand-up while preparing for this fight.
After a training session Mir remarks to Vinny that he's a better jiu-jitsu guy than even Nogueira. Vinny agrees in a way, saying that Nog is great at the fundamentals but he (Vinny) tries other things in addition to that. It could of sounded like he was saying he was better, but I might have misheard him. Some members of Team Nog relay this information back to Nog, but they seemingly embellish parts before they do. Nog is extremely upset and talks to Vinny about it. They're speaking in Portuguese with English subtitles. Nog is blasting Vinny. Vinny is trying to softshoe his way out of this but Nog's not believing him. In an inset Vinny says he won't kiss up to anyone. At least he showed Nogueira respect to his face, even if he doesn't show respect afterwards like a two-face.
The latest Krzy prank is a fake gravesite for Jules. Krzy had requested a fake headstone, a bodybag, and some candles for a mock funeral at Jules' bed. Krzy even wrote, "He lived, he died. Who cares?" on the fake headstone. That's a nice touch. I personally think this prank is great. It's funny and original and doesn't involve any body fluids. Even Jules thinks it's great.
A flashback to Jules winning his qualifying fight is shown, the one where he didn't throw any punches and submitted his opponent. Vinny is even more confident than he was a day prior, if that's possible. Vinny says he had a nightmare that Jules submitted him. Mir says he'll quit as coach if that happens. Vinny says he'll leave the show if he loses. We could only be so lucky. I hate arrogant guys. It's even worse when they haven't done anything to warrant such arrogance. Yeah, he's a fantastic jiu-jitsu guy but that's only one aspect of MMA. Get in there and beat some of the top-ranked guys in the world and then talk. Until then, keep your mouth shut. This is like if Matt Ryan from the Falcons was proclaiming himself better than Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Arrogance is very unbecoming.
FIGHT- Vinny Magalhaes vs. Jules Bruchez
Vinny is 3 inches taller and has a 3 inch reach advantage. Herb Dean is the ref.
ROUND 1- They both start off very tentative. Vinny throws some leg kicks. He connects with a few good ones. Jules is like a deer in the headlights, he's not doing anything. This is like Shamrock vs. Severn 2. Finally, Vinny takes Jules down and just decimates him, passing to mount like it was nothing. He goes for a gogoplata but turns it into an armbar for the win.
WINNER- Vinny Magalhaes by Armbar
The fight tonight was so boring I almost fell asleep describing it. At least it wasn't really long but it was still a good cure for insomnia. We all knew Vinny was excellent on the ground so this fight didn't really do much to move the meter. I want to see Vinny fight Eliot, that could be a really good fight. I don't know what happened to Jules. He just looked like he was off on another planet, like he was the victim of a body-snatching. He said he planned on charging in and dropping the bomb on Vinny's chin. What happened to that? Then afterwards he said he was disappointed with the way he fought. I don't mean to single Jules out but I never understand when a guy says that. Did he somehow lose control of his body as he was walking to the octagon? Did some mobsters pay him to take a dive? Here's a wacky idea, why not fight the way you had planned? It's better to get smoked while sticking to your gameplan instead of abandoning your strategy and essentially giving up. Your pre-fight strategies were thought of for a reason.
