TUF 10 Weekly Blog and Fantasy Game: Episode One

Mitchell CiccarelliSep 17, 2009

Following a display of explosive MMA action from UFC Fight Night 19, MMA fans witnessed the premier episode of the most-anticipated season of "The Ultimate Fighter" in recent memory.

The reality show that everyone has been talking about by the water cooler at work for months has finally begun. Each week, I will be blogging my thoughts as well as updating my weekly TUF fantasy game right here on Bleacher Report.

Early in the episode coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson are seated on a bench bickering like an old married couple about how one is going to knock the other out.

Rampage tells Evans that he’s going to “knock his ass out” and Evans counters claiming Jackson is too slow and his big head makes him an easy target.

Clearly, this show is being promoted on the wrong channel, as Comedy Central would seem to be a better fit for this particular season than Spike TV.

While the coaches continue to trash talk one another, the season’s competitors make their way into the UFC training center putting a halt on the verbal grappling among the former Light Heavyweight champions.

It isn’t long before the war of words starts up again as Rampage begins to poke fun at the way Evans was knocked out in his last bout by current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Evans maintains a confident smile and fires back with insults of his own bringing up a 2005 defeat Jackson took at the hands of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

I don’t know about you guys but I have Evans winning the trash-talking portion of the show so far. Jackson is a very funny guy, but Evans seems to be more clever and logical with the things he says.

UFC President Dana White warns the coaches not to get into a fistfight and then tells the other fighters to line up for an announcement. White announces that there are only 15 contestants in the room, not 16, and that one more fighter was on his way in.

“I know this next guy is a fighter. The question is, is he a mixed martial artist?” White said. “I’ve talked more [expletive] about this guy than anyone else.”

TOP NEWS

Bleacher Report1w

Bleacher Report1w

Rampage wonders if it’s Tank Abbott that White is referring to, but Abbott was too busy chugging down a case of Coors light and eating live kittens to make it down to Vegas for the show.

Instead, YouTube Street-Fighting sensation and former Elite XC headliner Kimbo Slice walked through the door, garnering mixed reactions from the other competitors.

Rampage made it known that he wanted Slice on his team and informed his rival coach to “stay away from Kimbo.”

During the two-hour fighter evaluations, Evans put the fighters through heavy bag drills which Rampage laughed at claiming that the only way to evaluate the fighters is to have them fight.

During Rampage’s evaluation he put the fighters through sparring sessions while cracking jokes at Roy Nelson’s pot belly and Darrill Schoonover’s “titties.” Neither fighter seemed all that amused by Rampage’s comments, but I’m sure everyone watching at home choked on their popcorn from laughter.

After the evaluation, both teams evaluate their talent and prepare for the draft. The traditional coin toss is implemented prior to team selection, but White tells the coaches that the winner of the toss can take either first pick or select the tournament's first two matchups.

Evans wins the toss, and he elects to take the first draft pick. For his first pick Evans selects his good friend and training partner James McSweeney, which isn’t all that surprising.

McSweeney is a deadly striker, but he isn’t very experienced in MMA. While it would seem most have listed as an early favorite to win the competition he could be in trouble up against a strong grappler.

Rampage follows up on his word and selects Slice as his No. 1 pick. Obviously, Slice has the most hype out of the 16 competitors, but will he be able to live up to it?

He has been over-hyped in the past and was exposed with a first round knockout at the hands of a much smaller Seth Petruzelli.

It will be interesting to see how much Slice has evolved since then and if Rampage can mold the internet superstar into the next Ultimate Fighter.

Surprisingly Roy “Big Country” Nelson—the man whom most fans are picking as a dead-on favorite to win the show, was selected late in the draft as Evans' fifth pick.

The picks end up as follows, listed from top to bottom in order of selection:

TEAM RASHAD

James McSweeney
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
John Madsen
Roy Nelson
Darrill Schoonover
Matt Matrione
Mike Wessel

TEAM "RAMPAGE"

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson
Abe Wagner
Demico Rogers
Wes Sims
Scott Junk
Wes Shivers
Marcus Jones
Zak Jensen

During the team selections, there were some comical moments as Rampage called Rogers “Rashad’s big older brother” and UFC veteran Sims blatantly lies in his confessional claiming he is "the only man to defeat Frank Mir on two separate occasions. ... And one more thing, Wes Sims will never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Also not only was Jensen picked dead last, but he was also publicly humiliated by his new coach as Rampage jokingly tried to pick the camera man instead of Jensen. Not cool, Rampage, not cool.

Both coaches are confident that they've picked the better team. The fighters enter the house, and Slice finds his bed knowing he'll be sleeping with a target on his back.

When the teams return to the gym the following day after their first training session Rampage announces his pick for the first fight. He selected his second pick, Abe Wagner to face Jon Madsen.

Talk about a horrible, horrible matchup for Wagner; what was Rampage thinking? Madsen is a wrestling machine who actually holds a victory over current UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in a high school wrestling match. Wagner is a decent fighter and has a size advantage over Madsen, but his ground game is mediocre.

What is even more mind-boggling is the fact that Rampage believed his fighter's “good Jiu-Jitsu” would be enough to handle the grizzly bear-like wrestling ability of Madsen. Nothing against Wagner, but it’s not like he’s an elite-level black belt, and Madsen is a very high-level wrestler.

Pretty much the whole fight was Madsen constantly taking Wagner down like a bull and bloodying him up with ground n’ pound. Wagner wasn’t able to mount any sort of offense as Madsen dominated both rounds with relentless takedowns and ground control.

The best advice Rampage could give Wagner in this fight was “Get up, Abe! Abe, get up! He’s doing the same thing ("Abe! Get up”) before throwing a temper tantrum and storming out of the gym.

Meanwhile, Evans actually gave technical commands ordering for Madsen to posture up and work to finish the fight which didn’t happen.

Madsen dominantly won both rounds to win the unanimous decision in what White calls “the bloodiest fight in TUF history.” With the win, Madsen advances into the quarter finals and takes one step further in becoming the next Ultimate Fighter.

Here are the current standings in Bleacher Report’s TUF 10 Fantasy Game.

Flying Knee: 2 Points

Top 8

Nelson
Wren
Junk
Jensen
Schoonover
McSweeney
Madsen
Sims

Top 4

Sims
Nelson
Schoonover
Madsen

Final

Nelson
Schoonover

Winner

Roy Nelson

Mitch Ciccarelli: 2 points

Top 8
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Darrill Schoonover
Scott Junk
Wes Shivers
Wes Sims
Marcus Jones
John Madsen

Top 4
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Darrill Schoonover
John Madsen

Final
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub

Winner
Brendan Schaub

Matt Randall: 2 points

Top 8

Darrill Schoonover
Zach Jensen
Justin Wren
Brendan Schaub
John Madsen
Kimbo Slice
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson

Top 4

Roy Nelson
Darrill Schoonover
Justin Wren
Brendan Schaub

Final

Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub

Winner

Roy Nelson.

Aoife O'Connor:

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top 4

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

Top 2

McSweeney
Nelson

Winner

McSweeney

Peta Waller:

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

4
McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

2
Schaub
Nelson

Winner
Nelson

Alysha Diaz:

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top 4
McSweeney
Rogers
Sims
Schaub

Top 2
McSweeney
Rogers

Winner
Rogers

Melanie Wray:

8= McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

4=McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

2=McSweeney
Schaub

Winner= McSweeney

Cameron Mumford:

Marcus Jones
Kimbo Slice
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Wes Sims
James McSweeney
Justin Wren
Darill Schoonover

Top Four
Roy Nelson
James McSweeney
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren

Final Two
James McSweeny
Brendan Schaub

The Ultimate Fighter
James McSweeny

Lynn Donegan:

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover
Slice

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

McSweeney
Nelson

McSweeney

Sinaed Marie O'Hara:

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Schoonover
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

Schaub
Nelson

Winner
Nelson

The Truth Turcott:

Kimbo Slice
Wes Shivers
Justin Wren
Mike Weasel
Abe Wagner
Wes Sims
Scott Junk
Marcus Jones

Kimbo Slice
Mike Weasel
Marcus Jones
Justin Wren

Justin Wren
Kimbo Slice

The Ultimate Fighter is: Justin Wren

Stoker Mac:

Kimbo Slice
Wes Shivers
Justin Wren
Mike Wessel
Abe Wagner
Wes Sims
Scott Junk
Marcus Jones

top4:
Kimbo Slice
Mike Wessel
Marcus Jones
Mike Sims

Sims
kimbo

The Ultimate Fighter is: Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson

E. Spencer Kyte:

Big Country
James McSweeney
Brendan Schaub
Kimbo
Schoonover
Justin Wren
Marcus Jones
Wes Sims

Top 4
Big Country
McSweeney
Schaub
Kimbo

Finalists
McSweeney
Kimbo
.
Winner
James McSweeney!