So this week was by far my favourite episode of the season thus far. There was very little in the way of house nonsense and shenanigans (some, but much less then previously).

   Following their win from last week Frank Mir comes to celebrate at the house. While there he asks Delgado where he got his black belt. The preview made it seem like Mir was harassing him, and Mir received heat on message boards like Sherdog for it. In reality the question was posed quite casually and in a friendly way. The answer given by Delgado is a bit complicated, and lead to many questioning his black belt’s legitimacy. He said he would post a link of his ceremony and he did (Find part one here)

   This persists into the fight announcement where Junie hands Delgado a black belt and spits on it. Which is an ignorant thing to do, let alone with Frank Mir and Big Nog present. Mir chalks it up to being charismatic, but echoes Nog and Anderson Silva, stating it is disrespectful.

   The episode is indeed all about the fight between Junie and Delgado. Junie doesn’t make weight at first, but manages to cut the additional two pounds in an hour. (Although he seemed on the verge of giving up a couple times.) Mir is right when expressing his anger and frustration with Junie. His mental state and strength are his biggest weakness.

   Junie talks some pre-fight trash stating that Delgado won’t make it out of the first round. Saying he wants to make a deal with Dana that says Delgado wins if he survives round one.

   Well guess what, the fight goes three rounds. It is not a great technical fight, and neither fighter looked incredible. What did stand out is Delgado’s heart and drive, Junie’s punches to the body and Junie’s lack of cardio.

   Junie landed a lot of shots, but Delgado didn’t seem particularly injured. They may have seemed better than they were relative to Delgado’s standup though, which was rough and ineffective. Both men taunted each other in the early rounds, but by the third Delgado was the only one smiling as Junie continued to out point him. For all the trash he talked about Delgado’s credentials Junie would not go to the ground, even while Delgado laid on his back and called Junie to come after him.

   Junie won via split decision, and in a moment of class apologized to Nog about the belt incident, chalking it up to pre-fight hype. Junie also expressed his disappointment with himself for letting Delgado out of the first. Mark it down, Junie managed to not be a complete fool for about 10 minutes, let’s hope it continues.

   Frank Mir stated they picked this fight so Junie could simply destroy their weak link and send a message. Well Delgado didn’t look hurt during the fight, which required a third round, what happens when Junie fights one of Nog’s best?

   In other news, EliteXC folded this week, where their fighters will end up is currently unknown. Hopefully we see Robbie Lawlor back in the Octagon, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kimbo at a Dream event in the near future. If only the UFC would bring Gina in for the fight with Cyborg as a one-time deal to test the reaction to women in the UFC. But I’m sure we can all agree that it is good to have Jared “Why do I call myself $kala?” Shaw out of MMA for the time being.