Episode 9 - March 14
It's Week Nine on The
Ultimate Fighter, and it's time for the ol' "Game
Show Man," Joe Van Ginkel, to break it down for ya.
When we last left our warriors of the Octagon, Josh
Rafferty got his booty handed to him in a sack by his
former teammate Diego Sanchez. Can Team Couture come
back from yet another loss? Let's find out.
As
always, we open with the aftermath of last week's
fight. Confessionals of the other fighters are intercut
with footage of the fight. It's clear what happened:
Rafferty had no real chance of winning, and Sanchez
punished Rafferty for challenging him.
As
before, Team Liddell now once again outnumbers Team
Liddell in middleweights, and Chuck Liddell must choose
one to go to Team Couture. He chooses Kenny Florian,
who says goodbye to his team, and goes to Team Couture.
Unlike Rafferty, Florian is far more appreciative with
the chance to train with Randy Couture. Couture
welcomes Florian to the team.
Back
at the house, the teams decompress. The middleweights
all gather in the bedroom of the house, and chew the
fat. Sanchez decides to drink a big helping of wheat
grass, and nearly gags on it, giving the others (and
Sanchez himself as well, who jokes: "That IS better than
a shot of whiskey!") a giant laugh. Later, the whole
house engages in a huge poker chip fight. Clearly the
mood in the house is steadily improving as the weeks go
by.
The
next morning, Kenny Florian joins his first Team Couture
training session. Turns out he wanted to be on Team
Couture in order to work on his ground game. As he
works, Florian grows closer to Chris Leben, and manages
to see the good man underneath the outrageous exterior
we've seen in early episodes.
Back
at the house, light heavyweight Forest Griffin has
shaved his head in anticipation for this week's light
heavyweight challenge. Griffin has been wanting to
fight the whole time, and this week he may get his
wish.
Later,
the fighters assemble in the living room for an event
they've been waiting for
they get to watch a UFC
pay-per-view (specifically UFC 50: "The War of '04")
alongside their coaches. A previously concealed
television appears out of the ground in the living room,
and the gang gathers around it. They cheer, hoot and
holler as the fights progress. Koscheck and Leben even
call in to the post game show hosted by UFC president
Dana White to comment on the evening's bouts.
Team Challenge
The next day is the light heavyweight team
challenge, where the fighters must run up and down a set
of parking garage stairs to collect 30 cases of bottled
water and stack them up first in order to prevent their
opponents from dunking their coaches, who are seated in
a carnival dunk tank.
The
race is very close. Team Couture's fighters and Griffin
take the cases from the lowest flights, but Sam Hogar
decides to take the cases on the highest flights. The
race is neck and neck but Team Liddell manages to win
this one by one case, and Sam Hogar pushes Randy
Couture's dunk button, sending the UFC light heavyweight
champion into the drink (and making Griffin a happy
man). Once again, Team Liddell has won and has control
of the elimination bout.
Back
in the gym, Team Liddell discusses who will fight.
Hogar thinks that it was his idea that won the challenge
and so he should pick his opponent, but the other, not
liking him to start with, decide otherwise. Griffin
will fight.
The
teams return to the house, and Liddell, standing in for
White who usually presides over the matchmaking
ceremony, hands to honor over to Griffin, who promptly
picks Alex Schoenauer, citing him as the "weakest link."
(Insert your own George Gray or Anne Robinson jokes
here, friends.)
That
night, Bonnar discovers that some of his nutritional
supplements are missing. Fearing they may have been
stolen, the others help him look through other people's
bags to try and find it. Eventually, they get to Sam
Hogar's things, and while they don't find Bonnar's
stuff, they DO find a lot of extra UFC apparel; indeed,
much more of UFC stuff than the others were issued. The
fighters realize that a lot of their own UFC apparel is
missing
naturally they decide that Hogar has stolen it.
(So would I.)
Hogar
claims that he got extra stuff from the UFC training
center, but everyone at the gym who had access to the
stuff says otherwise (and many of them are very angry
that Hogar should infer that they said he could do take
anything more than what he was given).
It's
official: the entire house now despises Sam Hogar
and
with good reason. He is a liar, a cheater and a
backstabber. Or at least he is perceived to be. Hogar
is forced to give up the extra stuff he's taken to the
other fighters, who quickly reclaim their belongings.
Some are not quite satisfied, as an apology does not
come with their stuff.
Meanwhile, back at the gym, Alex Schoenauer prepares for
his fight with Forest Griffin. He is intent on proving
Griffin's claim that he is the weakest link to be
wrong. In practice, he works hard to be ready for
Griffin's assault, and it looks like he may survive.
The
next day is the weigh-in. Griffin goes first and weighs
in at 205 pounds - exactly the light heavyweight limit.
Schoenauer is next and tips the scales at 205 as well.
The fight is on.
Then
it's fight day. Griffin and Schoenauer arrive at the
gym, and the final preparations are made: wrapping of
hands, application of Vaseline, gloving up and the
like. At the appointed time, the two men walk to the
ring for their fight. White, back from the
pay-per-view, explains the rules as always. Referee
Herb Dean asks the two men if they're ready. They
signal they are, and the war is on.
Elimination Bout #6: Light Heavyweights - Forrest
Griffin vs. Alex Schoenauer
Unlike
last week, this one is a real slugfest. The two men
traded strikes almost continuously. Eventually, at
2:20, Griffin takes Schoenauer down, and "ground and
pounds" Schoenauer into a tap out. Griffin has won the
battle, but Schoenauer may have won the war:
Schoenauer's punishing strikes have opened up a gigantic
gash on Griffin's eyebrow, and blood pours from the
wound even as Griffin pounds on Schoenauer from the top
position. The fight doctor looks at the cut and worries
that Griffin may not be able to continue in the
contest.
Lucky
for Griffin he won this week.
So
Alex Schoenauer has made Forrest Griffin pay for the
duke this week. Will Griffin's cut heal in time for him
to fight again? Or will he be forced to drop out? The
answer next week. For GSNN, this is the "Game Show Man"
Joe Van Ginkel, saying godspeed and spread the love. |