Oct 21, 2009 - 11:09:30 PM By Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor
The Ultimate Fighter report
October 21, 2009
By Frank Hyden
We start with Darrill Schoonover drinking. It's 8 in the morning and he's drinking. That's usually not a good sign. Nonetheless, we move on to Team Rashad training. Phil Nurse, Georges St. Pierre's trainer, is guesting coaching for Rashad Evans. Darrill seems to hit a wall with his cardio. His teammates spill the beans about his drinking earlier in the morning. Rashad and the rest of his coaches tell Darrill to not drink. He says he'll cut down or not drink at all as long as he's training. Quinton Jackson comes in and starts calling Darrill "Titties". Like all jokes, this gets less funny each time you hear it. Rampage makes sure to drive this into the ground, to the point where it's completely unfunny and just makes Rampage seem like a prick. Darrill finally has enough and stands up to Rampage. He tells Rampage that he'll drop to 205lbs. and kick Rampage's ass. This, of course, sets Rampage off and he starts trash-talking Darrill.
Rashad announces that the next fight will be Darrill vs. Zak Jensen. Rampage starts in with the Tittie talk. Darrill stands up to Rampage and gets in his face. Darrill walks away, but Rampage challenges Darrill to walk up on him again. Rashad steps in, realizing the bad spot Darrill's in. Darrill should have got right in Rampage's face. Dana White says that Darrill was smart to not do that. The opposite is true. The only way to shut a bully up is to confront him and call him out.
Elsewhere, Kimbo Slice has nicknamed Zak, Linderman. I'm not exactly sure what that's a reference too, but whatever. Wes Sims starts talking for some reason. He's got some stupid pool going about when Zak will snap. This guy just needs to seriously shut up. Nothing he says is worth the time it takes to write out. He got choked out in like 30 seconds to a freaking arm triangle, that puts an end to anybody caring what he has to say. It's also pathetic that so many people in the house pick on Zak. They're acting like a bunch of sheep who are afraid to be made fun of, so they have to gang up on one guy. It's high school crap, but newsflash, guys, you're not in high school anymore. It's not surprising that the ringleader of all of this is Wes Sims, an obviously developmentally challenged dumbass. I could go on and on about this, but the show's continuing.
At breakfast the next morning, Darrill shows off some of his tattoos. Rashad says he thinks that Darrill is weird, like serial-killer weird. I wouldn't go that far. The guy may seem a little off at times, but nothing too bad. Darrill works hard during training. He has a lot of power. He mainly trains his stand-up. Later, Tiki Ghosn, one of Rampage's assistant coaches, shows off a painting he had done of Team Rashad. It's a caricature piece. During Team Rampage's training session, Zak gets a gash above his left eye. It's pretty bloody. Kimbo raises his arms, anticipating Zak being ruled ineligible to fight, thus allowing Kimbo to take his place. However, Zak says that nothing will stop him from fighting, it's just a little blood. He's training hard, really working on his takedowns. The caricature of Team Rashad was put on the wall by members of Team Rampage. Rashad and his coaches see the painting and take it down, not wanting Darrill to see the painting before his fight.
Fight Day is also Darrill's birthday. James McSweeney (Darrill) and Kimbo (Zak) each bet shirts that their respective teammate will win. Rampage and Tiki write Titties on the nameplate of Darrill's warm-up room. Real classy. How about working with Zak to make sure he's ready? Rampage's idea of getting Zak ready to go is to keep calling Darrill Titties over and over again. He's really grasping at straws here.
FIGHT- Darrill Schoonover vs. Zak Jensen
Zak has a 2 inch height a 4 inch reach advantage. Steve Mazzagatti is the referee.
ROUND 1- Both fighters exchange early. They clinch, with Zak hitting some uppercuts. Darrill starts going off on Zak, pummeling him with some heavy shots. Zak gets a takedown, and starts working his ground-and-pound. Darrill is working for a triangle. He semi-locks it in, but Zak keeps throwing and connecting. Darrill cinches up the triangle and Zak's in big trouble. The cut on Zak's eyebrow opens and starts bleeding. Zak passes out from the triangle.
WINNER- Darrill Schoonover by Triangle
Rampage gives Team Rashad the cartoon picture of them. They don't react the way he was expecting, they play it like they think it's cool. That's a good way to diffuse Rampage. I spoke too soon, he has bigger plans for future pranks. Great. Rampage's image is taking a major hit in this season. His earlier coaching stint went a bit better than this. He's making himself look like a damn fool. The fight was really good while it lasted. Maybe I'm just an easy lay because of the average at best fights so far this season, but I thought it was pretty good. I hope this shuts up the idiots and losers in the house making fun of Zak. He didn't do that well, but he did better than Wes Sims, that's for damn sure. This season feels more and more like The Ultimate Fighter: High School Edition each week. I give credit to many of the guys in the house for not falling into such childish behavior, though. This season is very similar to season 3, where Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock also did a flip-flop, image-wise. Rashad is looking like a fantastic guy, and he keeps looking better each week.
NEXT WEEK- The final 2 match-ups are set
FAVOR: Would you help MMATorch by taking a short survey to create demographic info for our ad company? CLICK HERE
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
