Let’s get the end of last week’s episode out of the way quickly. Junie Browning (not Brown, my bad last week) jumps the cage, and nothing happens as a result. Dana says if the head of the NSAC had been there Junie would have been tossed and his license revoked. Seriously Dana? If it was bad enough that he would have lost his fight license, it should be bad enough (on top of last week’s insanity) to be tossed from the show. But he is not, and Frank Mir simply says he needs to redeem himself, as apologies mean nothing.

   Back at the house Junie complains that being on the show was a terrible decision and if he loses his fight the rest will be forced to deal with drunk Junie every night. In fact he feels if he loses to anyone in the house he should quit MMA and get a factory job. So there is some hope for all fans of MMA as a legitimate sport.

   In a funny moment, Efrain takes us back to ’98 and says that Junie thinks he is “all that and a bag of chips”. Awesome.

   So this episode is basically a prank-off. Team Mir freezes Efrain’s clothes and puts itching powder in beds. So Team Nog puts fish oil all over Team Mir’s beds. So Vinny urinates on Efrain’s pillow. Vinny isn’t as clever or subtle in his pranks as the other guys. Of course Bas Rutten Jr. started it all and everyone speculates an escalation.

Read the rest of this entry »

   Week three of The Ultimate Fighter begins with the information that two of the contestants, Brian and Karn, have fractured their noses and have been suspended for 180 days by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. As a result Kyle Kingsbury and Roli Delgado (one of the lankiest lightweights ever) got to come back.

   Teams were picked with Roli’s identity being unknown and going to whomever had the last pick of the lightweights. Mir won the coin-toss and chose to pick first, giving Nogueira control over the first fight.

   Mir feels that as individuals none of his fighters can be beat. Nog on the other hand took the Couture route and chose a group of guys he thinks will bond as a team. Which we see happen in this episode, with Nog going over to his team’s house for a meal, and being really excited about their ability to cook.

   John Polakowski (the cat who loves to hug people) is simply stoked about everything and gives Dana White a hug. I am so glad this guy is on the show. John comes from The Pitt, and reminds me a lot of Pitt alumni Jason Von Flue. He isn’t as obviously strange, but he seems to have suppressed his crazy and simply lets it out in hug form.

   Both Nog and Mir bring in competent assistant coaches (no Shamrock fiasco this season) including Mir’s assistant coach, former Abu Dhabi champion Robert Drysdale. The standout however is Nog’s assistant boxing coach Al “Stankie” Stankiewicz. Stankie is 67 and awesome, it’s like Burgess Meredith is on the show. If he calls someone “a wrecking machine” this will officially be my favourite season. How do you not love a guy named Stankie?

Read the rest of this entry »