Apr 30, 2009 - 1:19:42 PM By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist
This week’s show begins where we left off as Team U.K. is celebrating Nick Osipczak’s victory over Mark Miller. "Next win is ours as well, boys," is what Michael Bisping says while strutting around and enjoying the fruits of their labor, which has shocked most who expected the U.S. to dominate the competition. Team U.K. celebrates while Team U.S.A. sits dejected, but I must say what is nice to see is that aside from Bisping’s comment, Team U.K. is not acting out of line in celebrating victory and at the same time it is Team U.S.A. not acting like sore losers. Moments like these are when this show can fully capture the essence of this sport. It is great to see someone win and feel good about it but at the same time you fully realize just what it must feel like to be on the other side of victory and see them dealing with losing the chance to make the most of such an opportunity. Miller will surely rebound and be back somewhere down the line, but for now it is Osipczak’s time to shine and Team U.K. has thrown down the gauntlet and taken the early advantage.
It is a very, very long van ride for Team U.S.A. as they had all expected Miller to dominate Osipczak, and now they were certainly feeling a little self doubt while wondering just how good this group of U.K. fighters may be. Jason Dent asks everyone to be respectful when they return to the house and Cameron Dollar responds by saying, "You can do what you want to but I am going to do whatever the f**k I want to do," which is really less a sign of disrespect and more of youth as Dollar has simply not grown up yet. By no means am I excusing his actions, but there will come a time in his life when he regrets both his haircut and his actions; but for now he is feeling confident in both. Damarques Johnson puts it succinctly by stating, "everyone is flying under the same banner but we are definitely not a team," and this could not be any more evident with visible tension between every one of the U.S.A. fighters.
We return to the house where we see the fighters hanging out and enjoying each other’s company for a bit and it is Cameron Dollar holding court and bragging of his sexual conquests. "I’ve humped 70 to 80 girls" says Dollar to a circle of fellow fighters, and I had to laugh at this statement. One, he said "humped." My dog humps a pillow or a visitor’s leg, but I have never referred to having sex as "humping" save for when I was about 12 years old. Humping? Aside from this I have to say that I believe him as far as his count of 70-80 girls, as this is definitely possible for a guy who looks like he has frequented many a party which features red Solo cups and rohypnol. He follows up his attempt to sound like Wilt Chamberlain by telling a story of the time he had sex with a friend’s wife. Classy man this Cameron Dollar. Dollar looks like the type of guy that the Gotti boys would mock for his hairstyle, and is the sort of guy that no man wants to hang out with; or at least one that no married man should ever wish to befriend. It’s one thing if your wife cheats on you, but to find out she did so by getting "humped" by this clown with hair that Vanilla Ice wouldn’t have sported in 1990? Yeah. Cameron Dollar, folks, and remember we only spend less than an hour with him each week.
Leaving the tales of Dollar’s sexual prowess behind it was time to visit two fellows in a hot tub, as Jason Pierce of Team U.S.A. is seen enjoying some time with David Faulkner. Two men from two different countries find a common bond over fighting and sharing a hot tub together. The hot tub scenes from each season of this program look more like a dating show from the Logo channel rather than ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ but at least these two men kept some space between them and we were not forced to see any Speedos like we were last season. At any rate Jason Pierce has found a friend in David Faulkner, and I can’t blame him as Team U.S.A. for the most part seems like a group of guys that would get on anyone’s nerves.
Time to hit the gym for the first fight announcement and Coach Michael Bisping selects Andre Winner of Team U.K. to meet Santino Defranco of Team U.S.A. in a lightweight bout. Bisping says that Winner is very, very quick and that this will give him an advantage over Defranco. I must say that while Bisping’s gloating can get under anyone’s skin that I do have a lot of respect for the way he supports his fighters. This would change a little bit later on in the episode, but up until this point it seemed as if Bisping would be a coach that any young fighter would love to have. Bisping is skilled, and still has not even achieved nearly what he would like to in his own career, but he seems to check his own ego at the door and is boastful of his own fighters and the team in general. After seeing such coaches as Ken Shamrock and Matt Hughes it is refreshing to see a fighter who realizes that this is not about them.
The training session with Winner is spirited to say the least, competitive and fun. These U.K. guys are hungry but they are also working together as a team and enjoying the competition. Look, there will only be one winner in each weight class, and when you enter the Octagon it is an individual sport, but when it comes to training it is a must that you look at it from a team perspective as you need everyone to be working as hard as possible if you are going to be prepared to win on your own.
Team U.S.A. is now training and we get a chance to hear Santino Defranco’s amazing story once more. Hearing how Dollar has "humped" anything was not interesting, but Defranco’s path to ‘TUF’ is nothing short of remarkable. He tried out and made the cut in 2005 but two brain aneurysms prevented him from competing. He was told by his doctor that he would never again fight but nine months later he was back in the gym and beginning to work toward this very moment. This is amazing because I can’t imagine facing such a thing, and I have to wonder if I would be half as strong as Defranco in continuing to chase my dream with the knowledge that it may not be the best thing to do. I respect him for his drive and while I never rated him near the top of this class, I did find myself pulling for him to at least win this bout. A story like this can only make you cheer for a guy while at the same time you hope that he does no harm to himself by continuing to fight.
Fight day is upon us and we get the final words from each fighter before we head to the training center to take care of business. Defranco feels he has more avenues to win this fight and is supremely confident. I'd think that if you have survived brain aneurysms that you would probably not fear any man, but it did appear that he was not taking this fight seriously enough. Andre Winner admitted feeling some pressure to perform well and get a win for Team U.K. but at the same time kept perspective as he stated that he was only fighting Santino and not the world.
Santino Defranco has more to say in regards to his fight and he tells us that he is going to be water. He explains that just like how water in a tub with cracks will leak out that he too will exploit any and all openings and bust through the cracks and go with the flow. Before the fight we see Defranco in the locker room and he is repeating the mantra of "I’m the champ," but I have no clue what he is the champion of at all. In the movies it was true that if you called out for Beetlejuice and said his name three times that he would show up, and it seemed like Defranco was hoping for something similar to happen in the real world as he kept repeating this over and over.
Andre Winner vs. Santino Defranco
The fight is underway and it is Defranco getting things started by landing a kick to the leg of Winner. Defranco was doing a good job of circling and snapping off a jab which looked fairly decent. Defranco shoots in for the takedown but is stuffed by Winner and the two continue to circle each other. Defranco shoots in once again but Winner sprawls and is able to avoid the takedown. Winner was throwing some punches but he wasn’t connecting at all, and both men were still getting a feel for the other. Defranco went to the well once more and this third time is the charm as this fight goes to the ground. Winner sprawled once more but pushed Defranco down and ended up on top and in his full guard. From here it was the beginning of the end for water, as Defranco was unable to escape from any cracks in the tub and curled up in the fetal position while absorbing some ground and pound from Winner. Not many of these shots got through, and little damage was done, but it was more than enough to get the victory for Winner as Defranco was doing nothing but covering up. Defranco had success with the "rope-a-dope" in his elimination bout, but this time he is not allowed to get pummeled for the duration of the round, and as such he finds himself on the losing end. If Defranco was water than Winner was the finger in the dike, and this one was all over in the first round.
Winner is Andre Winner by way of 1st Round TKO
"It’s not supposed to be this easy" is what Michael Bisping has to say after Winner’s victory has put the British team up 2-0 in the competition. Over in the U.S.A. locker room we see that Dan Henderson is telling Santino Defranco that it was his poor choice of what to do and an inability to follow the game plan which led to his loss. Henderson wasn’t the most supportive, but this is a man who is such a competitor that he fought his way out of the womb and he just doesn’t deal with losing well at all. He isn’t used to dealing with it often in his own career, and he just can’t understand a fighter not sticking to the plan. Defranco may have lost just the same had he stuck to the plan, but Henderson feels this would not have been the case. Dan Henderson lets us know that he feels his guys are not mentally tough, and while this is true it is going to be hard for Henderson to find anyone on this team that even comes close to matching him in terms of mental toughness, and this will surely be frustrating for the former Olympian.
We return to the house which is where we observe the splintering of Team U.S.A. and see that they are in fact not a team at all. If anything this is truly an example of Americans, as in a broad sense we really do not look out for each other and seldom support each other, so it isn’t so much that this group of guys are bad but that they are in fact a real example of how many of us operate. Jason Dent lets us know that he is not much of a social guy, which is an understatement as he seems surly enough that even Matt Brown from season seven would ask him to smile once in a while. Dent says that it is more fun to hang out with Team U.K. and follows this up by asking Dollar if it would hurt if he were to smash a glass over his head. I like this because he didn’t just throw the glass like Junie Browning did last season, and instead asked if it would hurt. Comparing these two is like Goofus and Gallant as you should always ask before smashing a glass over someone’s head and it’s so much better if you just don’t do this at all. Dent continues on and tells Dollar to pull his "wiggity wack hat" over his "dumb f***ing face," which again is nice because he didn’t just go pull the hat himself but merely asked Dollar to do so himself. Dent is beyond surly, and these fighters are more than sick of each other already.
Team U.S.A. trains outside and Coach Henderson is contemplating which fight to pick as it is imperative that his team gets a win. So, he is wondering just which will be the easiest match up for his charges. This is bad when you have no faith in any of your fighters save for Damarques Johnson. Damarques is clearly the best fighter on the team, but it seems as if he is the best by a wide margin at this point. Cameron Dollar has to stir the pot and does so by smacking Mark Miller’s ass, which leads to Miller using clothing as a weapon against Dollar. Again, this season is much more gentle with ass slapping and shirt swinging rather than glass throwing and shoving contests. Jason Dent has to give his two cents worth and gets into it with Damarques Johnson and then telling him to, "turn to the camera and talk some more, showboater," which guarantees that the two of them will not be sharing a tub at any time this season.
Dan Henderson steps in and tells the fighters to knock it off and that they should support each other. It should be all positive thoughts he tells them and he implores them to be more polite. He finishes up by telling them that the only balls they should be busting belong to Team U.K. and I think he is now realizing just why Rich Franklin had zero desire to work a third shift as coach on this season.
This leads us back to the house and we see Team U.K. kicking balls around, jumping off of trampolines and looking like an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog has come to life on the set of a beer commercial. This seems so saccharine sweet that it almost looks rigged, as I just cannot imagine an entire team getting on so well with each other. Team U.S. is ‘Fight Club’ and Team U.K. is ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ this season.
Time for the fight announcement and we head to the gym where Dan Henderson is going to match Damarques Johnson against a heavy bag in hopes of getting the team its first victory. Ok, he doesn’t pick a heavy bag, but Dean Amasinger looks like one, and with his mohawk it is likely you could fashion a hook out of it and hang him up in the gym for target practice. This fight is "just to get a win," Henderson says. Michael Bisping acknowledges that Johnson is the best fighter on Team U.S.A. but he does give Amasinger a chance albeit a slight one. Deep down he knows that Amasinger has been selected as the sacrificial lamb.
To the gym we go to get a glimpse of Team U.K. training and we see Bisping working with Amasinger. Bisping is focusing on defending the triangle as he feels this is exactly how he could fall prey to Johnson in their fight. Bisping feels that Amasinger is well-rounded but is not spectacular at any one thing. He knows that Amasinger has no chance.
Team U.S. is running through their training session and to be honest it could have consisted of Damarques eating some grapes and maybe doing some stretching. Everyone knows Johnson has this fight in the bag. Damarques says that he is fighting the "Mr. T. of the house with a bald spot" in Amasinger, who does resemble the man who played B.A. Baracus so many years ago. Johnson does not say if he pities the fool or not, but Coach Henderson outright says that he is indeed the top guy at this weight and is a favorite to win it all. Johnson takes a moment to pray in the Octagon and prays not for victory but for the ability to do his very best. Personally I would have stayed away from airing this, as it does not bolster the case that Johnson is not fully aware of the camera and selling himself at all times. I firmly believe that this is what he does and how he does it, but most would look at this glimpse of him praying and imagine that it were stilted or something along those lines.
It is now "fight day" for the second time and we are taken back to the house to watch Dean Amasinger get his back shaved and his mohawk cleaned up. He tells us that he wants to look good for Johnson in their fight, and he really does look like he is a few gold chains away from pulling off the Mr. T. look. Damarques Johnson is cooly confident and completely relaxed going into a fight, which is nothing more than a glorified gym session considering the level of talent of both men.
Before the fight we find out that Michael Bisping has not shown up just yet, and Dana White appears on screen to tell us how no coach has ever missed a fight in all nine seasons of the program. No one seems to know where Bisping is and Amasinger is clearly shook up by this. Bisping was not going to fight for him, but it cannot be denied that this had an effect on him mentally and was the worst thing for him heading into what is the most important fight of his career. No one knows where Bisping is and I can only imagine he is somewhere having a few pints and chalking up the loss for his team.
Damarques Johnson vs. Dean Amasinger
Give Amasinger credit because he came out to fight and opened up with some leg kicks and looked to be ready to bring his best efforts no matter if Bisping showed up to coach him or not. Johnson remained relaxed and the two hit the ground in no time which led to Damarques working towards a kimura. It looked particularly tight, and I believe everyone imagined this one would be over, but Amasinger escaped and gave us at least a little bit of drama in this otherwise non-competitive fight. Before long it was Johnson working towards a triangle, and I could just see Bisping imploring his fighter to defend it but without coach there it was Amasinger who looked lost and only got himself into a better position to get caught in the submission. Amasinger tried to slam his way out of this but he only made it worse for himself and had no choice but to tap as Johnson had the triangle locked on and took this fight by way of submission
Winner is Damarques Johnson by Submission (Triangle) in the 1st Round
"I can pay some child support"-Damarques Johnson, following his fight and winning five thousand dollars for finishing his opponent.
This was never going to be a competitive fight, but I cannot fault Johnson and I do not blame Henderson for going this route. If anything I would believe that you would want to get your best guy into the finals by taking the path of least resistance and not risk him getting upset along the way. Obviously anything can happen inside of the Octagon, but this is the smartest way for Henderson to ensure that his best fighter moves forward and has a chance to win it all.
Team U.S.A. feels back on top after this win and over in the Team U.K. locker room we see Dean Amasinger having a meltdown over losing this fight. I feel awful for Amasinger, and have lost some respect for Bisping for no-showing the fight and letting his man down. Tito Ortiz has been the best coach on any season of ‘TUF,’ and I thought Bisping was going to show that he learned from the best and could prove to be rated the same, but stiffing Amasinger is just beyond disrespectful. Perhaps he has a good reason, but it needs to be more than just a good reason and it should involve having been locked up, drugged by an evil Team Quest lackey or something just way out there to have made it seem ok that he failed to appear.
Damarques Johnson is the Mac Danzig of this season in my eyes. He is somewhat surly towards his teammates, and by this I mean he clearly has no time for any of the social interactions nor does he wish to keep in touch or "Facebook" any of these guys. He is also clearly the most talented and most experienced fighter of a notoriously weak bunch which is exactly the same situation Danzig was in as he was a Pride veteran amongst guys like Blake Bowman. Johnson is the best fighter of a so-so group, and he is getting the bulk of the camera time in much the same way that Danzig did, and I would have to say he should be the favorite to win it all in much the same fashion that Mac did season six of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’
The preview for next week’s episode is similar to those from the ‘Batman’ series of the ‘60s starring Adam West.
Why didn’t Bisping show?
Will Team U.S.A. get along?
There will again be two fights so be sure to tune in at the same TUF time on the same TUF channel.
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