What can you say about the Ultimate Fighter this week other than it really didn’t help how the public will perceive the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
Junie Brown…what a maniac. Dana White had commented that this season would make Chris Leben look like a angel, and he was right. Junie starts by talking trash (drunk) and throwing peanuts at Kyle. Kyle light heartedly tosses some back. Junie responds by throwing a glass that breaks on Kyle’s arm. Right there, toss the cat; he has now endangered another fighter’s career.
Junie assumes he will be tossed from the house, so he goes on a rampage. He talks trash to everyone, especially the light heavyweights. Junie’s partner who is much less interesting, Shane also gets drunk and talks trash. Especially to Efrain, but we will come back to that later.
So Junie and Shane go down and start breaking things and throwing stuff into the pool. Being the children they are, they fing it hilarious. Meanwhile the rest of the house isn’t amused. Eventually Junie picks up a bottle and starts threatening people (2nd time he should be tossed). That is when Krzysztof steps in and tries to calm Junie. This escalates into Junie calling the bigger guys bullies and jumping in the pool.
Now as we learned last week, Krzysztof enjoys a good practical joke, so he puts the clothes Junie had been wearing into the pool. This of course escalates into Junie freaking out and while doing so, Ryan Bader puts his clothes back in the pool. Guess what happens next? That’s right, it escalates and Junie tries to push Badder in the pool. This results in a small tussle where Junie needs to be restrained and throws a front kick (violence, probably a 3rd reason to be tossed). He then pushes Krzysztof again, seems to cry a little bit, then goes back in the house.
SO. The next morning Dana White comes and asks Junie what is wrong with him. Although it’s a bit more colourful since it’s Dana White giving a speech, but I’m trying to keep this column clean. Dana explains there is booze in the house because they are grown men who should be responsible enough to have a drink if they want one. For some reason, maybe ratings, Dana White lets Junie and Shane stay but says that since Shane challenged Efrain in the house like a tough guy, he will fight first. Dana claims to not know why he gave them a second chance, but tells them to not make him look like a fool. Best part was when Dana called Shane “Sparky”.
I understand giving someone a second chance, but maybe don’t do it on television, where the guys are representing a sport with a fragile public image.
The fight is chosen as Shane vs Efrain and immediately Junie is talking trash in the house that Efrain will only win via lay and prey based on his wrestling background.
We finally see the gym about half way through the show, and we see about five minutes of coaching from Mir and Nog. We only get 15 seconds of Stankey, which is lame.
The fight itself isn’t anything spectacular. Efrain utilized his wrestling to control Shane for the majority of the two rounds. Shane, a purple belt under BJ Penn, seems like he is unable to pull the trigger and let his hands go. As a result Efrain manages to finish the fight near the end of the second round with a triangle choke.
Guess what happens next… Junie acts like a moron. Junie freaks out that Efrain is celebrating in the cage and yells it was a boring fight because of Efrain’s wrestling. Efrain continues to celebrate with Nog saying that Junie will fight next. At this point Junie, who was adamant he wouldn’t waste his second chance, jumps the cage and must be restrained by Big Nog as the episode ends (reason 4 to be tossed).
So next week we get to tune in and watch the continuing saga of the self-destruction of Junie Brown. Will he get tossed? My guess is no. Do I want him to get tossed? Yes! People claim that Kimbo is bad for the sport’s image, well Junie Brown did more to damage the sport of MMA’s public perception in this one episode than Kimbo ever has.
Speaking of Kimbo, people need to cut Kimbo some slack. The man shouldn’t be headlining events, but that is something you do not say “no” to. You accept the pay and enjoy your luck. Did Seth destroy the image of Kimbo? Not for me, because a guy with 3 professional fights can afford to lose to an opponent with 13 bouts. Losing allows up and coming fighters a chance to re-evaluate and improve their game.
Well, tune in next week when we get to see Anderson Silva be awesome, and I begin referring to Krzysztof Soszynski as Bas Rutten Jr.
