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The Ultimate Fighter report
April 14, 2010
By Frank Hyden
We start off with all the fighters gathered around in the fighting facility. Dana White, Chuck Liddell, and Tito Ortiz enter. Dana calls Chris Camozzi up and tells him that he has a fracture in his jaw, and that he's off the show. Well, that's a kick in the junk. I understand why, but it's still a crappy way to leave the show. Tito gets to choose a replacement from the losing fighters who are still healthy enough to compete. Team Liddell is shown training. Chuck is teaching them some of his techniques that he uses. This is really valuable stuff, although not all of them will be able to use it. Apparently, Chuck is a strict disciplinarian, and won't tolerate many disruptions.
Back from the commercial, Charles Blanchard is shown giving Nick Ring a massage. It's like 2 in the morning, kind of an odd time to be giving a massage. Jamie Yager and Kris McCray give Nick a bit of a hard time for parading around in his tight underwear and the way he stands. It's kind of weird. The next day, Tito chooses Seth Baczynski to be the replacement for Chris. Chuck gets to choose the next fight and he chooses Brad Tavares vs. James Hammortree. Team Ortiz is shown training. Jamie and Nick start arguing during sparring. Jamie called Nick a bitch and threw some hard kicks. Tito calls everyone together and tries to get them to stop arguing amongst themselves. Both guys make weight, and nothing else of note happens.
Brad is a well-rounded fighter, while James is more of a puncher. James has the nickname "Sledge" and he says he has heavy hands. James also holds the record for the fastest knockout in California with a 5 second knockout. Both guys are very confident. They both also say that they're going to knock the other out, and that this fight will be a war. Yeah, we'll see. I've heard that too many times before to just believe it. Most times that guys say that you end up with a boring as hell fight that takes place on the ground.
FIGHT- Brad Tavares vs. James Hammortree
James has a 2 inch height and 2 inch reach advantage. Steve Mazzagatti is the referee.
ROUND 1- Both guys are tentative. James tries for a single-leg takedown. Brad turns it into a judo hiptoss, and takes James' back. James is able to move to half-guard. They start hugging, and the fight slows to a crawl. Brad escapes, and takes James' back. James gets to guard, and eventually the round ends.
ROUND 2- James tries for a takedown, but Brad is the one who gets it. Brad is on top, then works his way to side control. They stand briefly before going back to the ground. This is really boring. Brad keeps trying for a kimura. James is on top, in Brad's guard. Both guys are just kind of hugging it out as they fight for position. The round ends, and unfortunately, we're going to a 3rd round.
ROUND 3- They start very tentative. Brad hits some nice jabs, which causes James to go for a takedown. James is on top, in half-guard. James quickly moves to mount, but doesn't do much. Brad reverses and escapes. James is holding on to Brad's leg as Brad peppers him with punches. At this point, I don't care who wins, I just hope the fight ends. Finally, the horn sounds and we go to a decision.
WINNER- Brad Tavares by Decision
The fight was suckish and boring. I almost never believe these guys when they say that they're going to stand and bang. It almost always turns into a boring lay-and-pray. If you have "heavy hands", use them. Fights like this turn people off of watching MMA. It's not the worst fight I've ever seen on The Ultimate Fighter, but it wasn't good at all. Hopefully, some of the other fighters actually deliver.
NEXT WEEK- Controversy erupts in the octagon, plus 2 fights in this episode
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