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By Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT
MAY 12, 2010
AIRED ON SPIKE TV
The episode starts with Court McGee complaining about his loss last week to Nick Ring. Tito Ortiz says that something felt off about the way Nick fought. Well, it turns out that Nick had hurt his knee in the fight he won to get into the house. Nick says the knee feels really loose and that he's hurt it before. It'll be a bad break if Nick has to quit the show. The fight this week is Seth Baczynski vs. Joe Henle. Team Ortiz is shown training, and Seth is training especially hard. Tito likes that in his fighters.
Joe is talking with Rich Attonito, who wonders if Joe has his head on right. Rich doesn't know if Joe has it mentally. Joe trains really hard, trying to prove himself to everyone. Joe has only been a pro for 6 months, but he's been working as hard as he can. He says he trains 4 times a day. While Seth is training with Team Ortiz, Nick Ring buckles. His knee gave out. Tito takes a look at it and says it looks similar to Tito's knee when he tore his ACL. That's not good. Tito says that they'll talk to a doctor and see what they can do. All of the available fighters want in to the Wild Card fight. They all feel as though they deserve to be in that fight as well. Joe and Seth both want to win their upcoming fight badly.
FIGHT- Seth Baczynski vs. Joe Henle
Seth has a 2 inch height advantage, but Joe has a 4 inch reach advantage. Josh Rosenthal in the referee.
ROUND 1- Joe gets a takedown, Seth tries for a submission. Joe is in Seth's half-guard. Seth tries for a guillotine, but Joe won't tap. Seth gives up the guillotine. Joe is in Seth's guard up against the cage. They go North-South. Joe takes Seth's back for a moment, but Seth turns into Joe's guard. Seth is working some ground-and-pound as the round ends.
ROUND 2- Joe with a body kick. Seth gets a takedown, and Joe is in Seth's half-guard. Joe takes Seth's back briefly. Seth goes for a submission attempt while Joe is on top. They go North-South again. They get up. Joe goes for a single-leg takedown. They go to the ground. Seth locks in a rear-naked choke, but the round ends before it gets him the win. We're going to a 3rd round.
ROUND 3- Seth opens with a flurry. They go to the ground, with Seth on top. There's a little action, and a lot of laying. Seth connects with a nice elbow. Seth is just lying on Joe, working his ground-and-pound. There's very little action in this round, Joe is totally gassed.
WINNER- Seth Baczynski by Decision
Chuck Liddell says that Joe did pretty good for how inexperienced he is. Later, Dana White announces that the Wild Card fight is Kyacey Uscola vs. Kris McCray. Why is Kris in the Wild Card? The guy didn't do jack in his fight. He gassed out 20 seconds into that fight. Kyacey's a good choice for this fight, but not Kris. He better put up a decent fight. Dana also announces that Court McGee will replace Rich Attonito, who has a broken hand. I know it's slim pickings, so I'll give a pass on picking Court, who wasn't very impressive in his loss to Nick Ring.
The fight this week was long and boring. I don't know what it is about this season and so many fights going to the 3rd round. Some of the fights this year have been really boring. I'm tired of seeing guys laying on each other. I want to see action. If you're on top of a guy, work for better position, or try a submission. If you're underneath a guy, try to work your way free. You should always be trying to improve your position. There's no point to just lying there, trying to hang on. I'm hoping that the fights get better as the season progresses. Let's hope so. As it is now, I'm rooting for Jamie Yager, who's by far the most exciting and dynamic fighter in the house.
NEXT WEEK- Kyacey vs. Kris, plus the first Quarterfinal fight
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