The Ultimate Fighter: Can Team Rashad Sweep Team Rampage?

*Bleacher Report TUF 10 Fantasy Game standings for episode three are listed at the bottom of the page

We’re three episodes in to the 10th installment of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV and so far Team Rashad is dominating the competition boasting three straight victories over Team Rampage.

Abe Wagner, Wes Shivers, and now street-fighting kingpin Kimbo Slice have all bitten the dust and with Rashad in control of the next matchup he will look to pick apart the rest of Rampage’s soldiers one by one delivering the first clean sweep in Ultimate Fighter history.

Rashad and his coaching staff now have the opportunity to come up with a fool-proof blue print that will ensure that the rest of their team are victorious into the quarterfinal round.

We won’t know for sure what Team Rashad’s game-plan will be until the show progresses but for a bit of speculation let’s take a look at what the best on-paper matchups are.

If these are the bouts that are selected then there is a 90 percent chance that Team Rashad makes history with every single one of their fighters advancing into the next round.

Brendan Schaub vs. Marcus Jones

Jones is a very large athlete that possesses explosive power which makes him a legitimate threat to any fighter in this competition. However his conditioning does not seem up to par with the other fighters and he has been struggling with injuries as we witnessed in last night’s episode.

In next week’s preview it appears Jones becomes ill and mixed in with his injuries may have to forfeit the competition. If that is the case it is very likely that heavy-handed Slice may be brought back in as a replacement but if not Rashad should definitely set his sights on Jones.

Schaub is an up and coming prospect out of Greg Jackson’s camp in New Mexico and was picked second overall on Team Rashad. He is a very well rounded fighter known more for his striking ability and he should be able to pick the former first round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Bucs apart.

Matt Mitrione vs. Zak Jensen

Jensen was picked dead last for Team Rampage and the fact that Rampage tried to pick the cameraman before him should tell you something. Not to say Jensen is a bad fighter, because he wouldn’t be on the show if he was but if you get gogoplata-ed by Brad Imes there is a good indication that your skill set needs improvement.

Mitrione is an extremely impressive athlete that played six seasons in the NFL with the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings but boasts a 0-0 MMA record with the least cage experience in the house.

Regardless of his inexperience he has been training with UFC veterans Jake O’Brian and welterweight contender Chris Lytle so it’s not like he is entering this competition without any MMA ability.

While Jensen possesses more technical skills than the former NFL player he is not going to run through Mitrione. Stylistically the smartest approach to getting Mitrione into the next round would be to match him up against the weakest link on Team Rampage and not to take anything away from him but that weak link is Jensen.

Darill Schoonover vs. Wes Sims

Sims is one of three UFC veterans competing in this tournament and has been in there with some of the very best out there. Most fans remember him for his 2003 disqualification loss to former Heavyweight champ Frank Mir at UFC 43, but make no mistake about it; Sims is one of the top dogs in this competition.

The best possible matchup to knock Sims out of the tournament would be to pit him up against 10-0 Shark Fight Heavyweight champion Schoonover. Nicknamed “titties” by opposing coach Rampage, Schoonover on the outside appears like a chubby comic book nerd but on the inside he is an absolute killer and mixed with his never-say-die attitude he is a very dangerous opponent for Sims.

Standing as the tallest heavyweight on the show at 6'10" and weighing in at 260 pounds Sims towers over the 6'2" 250-pound Schoonover but “titties” has made a career out of besting larger opponents and Sims would be no different.

Justin Wren vs. Demico Rogers

Rogers is a mystery man in this tournament as not much is known about him. On certain websites he is listed as 4-0 but on the world’s largest fighter database—Sherdog fight finder—he is profiled as 0-0 which can be very misleading.

Regardless of his record Rogers is an impressive athletic prospect that shouldn’t be taken lightly at all. He comes from a strong wrestling and football background so in this situation Rashad would have to put fire against fire and choose Wren as Roger’s opponent.

Other than Jon Madsen, Wren is one of the best wrestlers on the team and is also very dangerous at every other aspect of MMA. He would have the best chance of neutralizing Roger’s athleticism and would likely outscore the Team Rampage prospect to a unanimous decision victory.

Mike Wessel vs. Scott Junk

Both of these fighters have competed in the UFC once before with losses over Antoni Hardonk and Christian Wellisch respectively. They are both hard-nosed competitors that are willing to fight anyone in this competition so matching them up against each other would surely produce a barn burner.

They each made their transition into MMA after their college football careers ended and have been rather impressive on the local fighting circuit. Despite each suffering defeats in their lone UFC appearances they are both well rounded fighters with knockout power in their hands.

Out of all of the other matchups this one is the closest one as either man could defeat the other on any given night. However Wessel would certainly have the advantage just on the pure fact that he’ll be training with the better team with the better coaches.

It is currently uncertain if Rashad and his staff will be able to pick these fights but in the meantime let’s take a look at the current standings in B/R’s TUF 10 Fantasy Game:

Flying Knee: 6 Points

Top Eight

Nelson
Wren
Junk
Jensen
Schoonover
McSweeney
Madsen
Sims

Top Four

Sims
Nelson
Schoonover
Madsen

Final

Nelson
Schoonover

Winner

Roy Nelson

 

Matt Randall: 6 points

Top Eight

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

Top Four

Roy Nelson
Darrill Schoonover
Justin Wren
Brendan Schaub

Final

Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub

Winner

Roy Nelson

 

Mitch Ciccarelli: 4 points

Top Eight

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

Top Four
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Darrill Schoonover
John Madsen

Final
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub

Winner
Brendan Schaub

 

Aoife O'Connor: 4 points

Top Eight

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top Four

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

Top Two

McSweeney
Nelson

Winner

McSweeney


Peta Waller: 4 points

Top Eight

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top Four

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

Top Two

Schaub
Nelson

Winner
Nelson

 

Alysha Diaz: 4 points

Top Eight

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top Four

McSweeney
Rogers
Sims
Schaub

Top Two

McSweeney
Rogers

Winner
Rogers
 

Melanie Wray: 4 points

Top Eight

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top Four

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

Top Two

McSweeney
Schaub

Winner= McSweeney


Cameron Mumford: 4 points

Top Eight

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: 4 points

Top Eight

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover
Slice

Top Four

McSweeney
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

Top Two

McSweeney
Nelson

McSweeney


Sinaed Marie O'Hara: 4 points

Top Eight

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top Four

Schoonover
Wren
Nelson
Schaub

Top Four

Schaub
Nelson

Winner
Nelson

 

E. Spencer Kyte: 4 points

Top Eight

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

Top Four
Big Country
McSweeney
Schaub
Kimbo

Finalists
McSweeney
Kimbo

Winner
James McSweeney!

 

Jessy Morris: 4 points

Top Eight

McSweeney
Slice
Wren
Nelson
Sims
Rogers
Schaub
Schoonover

Top Four

McSweeney
Wren
Schaub
Schoonover

 

Top Two

McSweeney
Wren

Winner
McSweeney

 

Ken Foss: 4 points

Top Eight

Darrill Schoonover
Marcus Jones
Justin Wren
Brendan Schaub
John Madsen
Kevin Ferguson
Mike Wessel
Roy Nelson

Top Four

Roy Nelson
Darrill Schoonover
John Madsen
Brendan Schaub

Final
Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub

Winner
Brendon Schaub.


The Truth Turcott

Top Eight

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

Top Four

Kimbo Slice
Mike Weasel
Marcus Jones
Justin Wren

Top Two

Justin Wren
Kimbo Slice

The Ultimate Fighter is: Justin Wren



Stoker Mac

Top Eight

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

Top Four

Kimbo Slice
Mike Wessel
Marcus Jones
Mike Sims

Top Two

Sims
Kimbo

The Ultimate Fighter is: Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson