Three Men Down - August
22
(Recapper's note: I would
like to thank Spiketv.com for their assistance
with the preparation of the following recap.)
The most brutal reality show in history is back for a
second season.
With the success of the first season of "The Ultimate
Fighter" and the
new deal with UFC, president Dana White brings it back
with Season 2 of
"The Ultimate Fighter".
But this time its the heavyweights and welterweights,
up for battle. We
see 18 brand new Mixed Martial Artists arrive in Las
Vegas to compete
for two contracts with the Ultimate Fighting
Championship Company. Last
year...the coaches were Randy "The Natural" Couture and
"The Iceman"
Chuck Liddell. This year, it's UFC World Champions, Matt
Hughes and Rich
Franklin. Rich Franklin has a career record of 20-1. He
is a freestyler
and is managed by Monte Fox. Matt Hughes has a record of
38-4 and
wrestles under the Miletich Fighting Systems.
The coaches put the fighters through a brutal workout,
testing their
boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts skills as well
as evaluating
their overall athletic conditioning. The fighters
struggle to complete
the session and leave the gym battered, bruised and
beaten. Some of them
carry cuts from boxing and other war wounds. Kerry
Schall of the
heavyweight division twists his knee and is taken away
to the hospital.
A doctor examines Kerry Schalls knee and tells him it
isnt. broken,
but he will need to see an orthopedic surgeon and get an
MRI to get his
knee fully diagnosed. After the MRI, he is diagnosed
with torn cartilage
in his knee. He needs surgery and is eliminated from the
competition.
Eli Joslin struggled through the first day of
evaluation. He complains
to the others that hes not feeling well and is having
serious doubts
about staying in the competition. He asks to meet with
Dana White and
the coaches to talk about his situation. They tell him
he shouldnt walk
away from this opportunity. They encourage him to hang
in there and give
it a shot. But later on, Joslin gathers all of the
fighters in the house
to tell them hes leaving the show. He says its just
not for him, and
his decision is final. Eli leaves the show, leaving all
the fighters
with a bitter taste in their mouths.
Dana surveys the fighters and calls out Kenny Stevens as
the weak link
in his weight class. Dana tells Kenny hes willing to
give him an
opportunity to fight for a chance to stay in the
competition. Kenny
chooses to fight Sammy Morgan. They immediately weigh-in
and its
determined that Kenny has to cut 20 pounds to be on
weight for his
fight. Kennys teammates and coach stick by his side and
help him
through a painful night of trying to sweat off those 20
pounds.
(Remember the biking in the sauna with sweats from
season 1?) Kenny
falters somewhat during the weight cutting, but ends up
goes to bed on
target for the weigh-in. In the morning Kenny resumes
his weight cutting
with Rich Franklin. He is confident hell make it. But
during his final
stretch in the sauna he tells Rich he cant take it
anymore and quits
with just a few pounds to go. That disappoints Franklin,
and he says
that Kenny lacks the mental strength to hang in there
and make weight
for his fight. The other fighters arrive at the UFC
Training Center for
the weigh-in. Dana White has Kenny explain his reasons
for quitting to
the other fighters then sends him home.
So at the end of episode 1, 2 fighters quit and one
fighter blows out
his knee and we are down to 15 fighters--and it's only
one week! Find
out next time what happens on the Ultimate Fighter 2!
(Again, much appreciation to spiketv.com for their
assistance in the
preparation of this recap.) |