PWInsiderXTRA - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

During the past couple seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC has sent out messages to its e-mail subscribers every Wednesday, reminding them of the new episode to air later that night. This week, I received no such alert, meaning that either someone at ufc.com is asleep at the wheel, or – more likely – even the promotion’s own employees have managed to forget that this stinker of a season is still in progress. Based on last week’s preview, we will apparently learn the fate of coach Tito Ortiz tonight. If UFC president Dana White decides to send him home early and make him miss the rest of the season, can I go too? 

We start this week’s episode where we left off last week, with coach Chuck Liddell reacting to the news that Tito has pulled out of their fight scheduled for UFC 115. Chuck unleashes a stream of unmentionables, though somehow “pu**y” makes it past the censors’ buttons. Chuck says he knew Tito was going to back out, and didn’t even want to do the show with him in the first place. Wow, to think of all the pain he could have saved us had he just followed his instinct from the start. As Chuck leaves the room, Dana tells him that he will still fight at the end of the season, but doesn’t name an opponent. 

As Chuck walks out, he passes several fighters in a hallway, then tells assistant coach John Hackleman the bad news. No, not that we still have two more episodes left this season, but that Tito has pulled out. As we hear Chuck continue to vent, we see that Tito is sitting in the very next room, listening. Tito later explains that Chuck just doesn’t understand the nature of his injury, and that ever since his fight last fall with Forrest Griffin, he has experienced numbness. Gee, Tito, are you sure that wasn’t the result of your alleged cracked skull? 

It’s time to weigh in for this week’s bout, which will be the last quarterfinal fight of the season. Jamie Yager and Josh Bryant both make weight, and as they face off, Chuck tells us that his plan for Josh is to stay inside, and away from Jamie’s considerable range. Jamie’s teammate Kyacey Uscola acknowledges his speed and talent, but warns that there’s more to fighting than “just talent and speed.” Yeah, because anyone who has gone 0-2 on this show would know. Josh’s teammate Rich Attonito predicts that both guys are “going to be dumping it all out in there.” Which is a pretty accurate assessment, considering how sh**ty this show has become. 

At the house, Jamie is preparing himself to go to war, and explains to his roommates that he will fare well against Josh because he has been training all season on how to defeat a wrestler like Josh. Jamie says that all he has to do is hit Josh with a clean strike, because “when you tap that chin, it’s the off button”…something that viewers have gotten to know quite well this season. 

It’s fight day, and Jamie is hoping to make a strong showing in order to improve the lives of those back home. Josh, meanwhile, promises to not give up, and says he hates to lose. Josh thinks Jamie will probably expect him to go for an immediate takedown, but says he will instead try to strike first, then go for the takedown. I guess he wasn’t in the room the night before, when Jamie specifically said he’d be looking for the overhand right, followed by the takedown attempt. Looks like a long night ahead for Josh. 

As the fight is about to begin, Chuck tells Josh to close in quick. Turns out he doesn’t have to, however, as Jamie misses a wild punch at the start and eats a big right hook instead. Josh pushes Jamie into the fence, leading to Tito calling for an underhook. Gee, there’s something new. Jamie does a great job of avoiding a takedown, hitting Josh with several knees to the body before working his way free. Jamie spends the next couple of minutes keeping Josh at bay, hitting him from afar with strikes until Josh finally rushes in, but can’t complete a takedown because Jamie grabs the fence, then hits him in the back of the head. With about :30 left in the round, Josh lands another right hook, sending Jamie to the canvas and finishing the round in Jamie’s guard. 

The second round begins the same way that the fighters spent much of the first – keeping their distance, with Jamie throwing the occasional kick. Josh finally manages to connect with yet another right hook, prompting Jamie to respond with a series of sloppy flying knees that miss. Josh then takes Jamie to the mat and falls into side control, which has Tito once again calling for an underhook. Someone should make a drinking game out of this – every time Tito calls for an underhook, everyone has to take a shot. Anyway, Josh is unable to hold Jamie down, and he breaks free…landing yet another punch to the back of Josh’s head on the way out. The fight then turns into a total slugfest, with both guys landing solid kicks, punches and knees. Josh finally drops Jamie again, though after watching it in slow motion, it looks like he actually connected with Jamie’s shoulder. Either way, Josh drops into side control again, and spends the final minute of the round trying for both a kimura and a crucifix. Neither is entirely successful, though, and we’re headed for sudden victory. 

Before the third round can start, however, Jamie decides he is unwilling to continue, and the fight is over. Hilariously, Chuck mocks Jamie as he sits on his stool, saying he quit “just like Tito.” Kind of a d*ck move, but then again, it’s hard to argue with the truth. Afterward, Dana explains to Chuck that Jamie mentally checked out of the fight after eating the first couple of punches from Josh. Wow, thanks, Dana – I’m sure Chuck never would have figured that one out on his own. Any chance of keeping Tito, and sending Dana home? 

This week’s episode comes full circle in the dressing room, as Tito paces around the room and mutters something about Jamie being a “pu**y.” Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. As we see Jamie leaving the gym in the back of an ambulance, Tito tells the rest of his team that they will never succeed in MMA without having heart. Um, just to be clear, this is Tito saying this, right? 

In a déjà vu moment from last week, Dana grabs a coach and pulls him aside for a private meeting, only this week, it’s Tito. Dana informs him that he has arranged for Tito to see a doctor in California the following day for a second opinion, but that regardless of what that opinion is, Tito will not be returning to the show. Tito protests, saying he still has a fighter competing in the semifinals, but Dana has made up his mind. 

So, we’re supposed to believe that Tito has “fallen out” of the show, even though he has expressed no interest in leaving his team behind? Once again, Dana’s ego has taken over the flow of this program, and this time a semifinalist will have to deal with losing his coach. Then again, considering Chuck’s guys have had to do without him several times this season, maybe it’s only fair. Later, a teary-eyed Tito copes with the news, reminding us that he fights his family. Wait, I mean he fights for his family. Tito promises to come back and compete again, then drives off into the Las Vegas sunset. 

Adding insult to injury, Dana tries to convince us that he gave Tito the opportunity to break the news to his team, but that Tito blew them off and just drove away. Never mind the fact that Dana didn’t tell him that his guys were sitting in a van in the parking lot, and not still in the gym…where Tito had poked his head in moments earlier, presumably in an effort to find them. Dana calls Team Ortiz back into the building – conveniently waiting for Tito to vacate the premises before doing so – and sells Tito down the river, convincing the team that Tito chose to just leave without saying goodbye. Jeez, and I thought the 2007 “Dana vs. Tito” Spike TV special was a hatchet job. Dana then tells everyone a new coach is en route. 

Later that night, after Jamie returns from the hospital, Tito and his assistants pay a visit to the house. Tito gets the opportunity to address his team, admirably telling them what happened without burying Dana in the process. He tells Kris McCray to stay motivated and win the competition for his team, then has a drink with the guys before hitting the road. 

It’s time for the semifinal fight announcements, but before Dana can say what the matchups will be, a Spike TV ad for “Half Pint Brawlers” mysteriously cuts in and interrupts the segment. After a full slew of commercials, we return to the gym and start over. It now actually looks like the interruption was a weak attempt at a cliffhanger, as this segment starts off a little differently than the last. Man, if Dana is going to fire Tito, he ought to fire the editor who cut that last segment, too. Dana lets us know that Team Liddell teammates Court McGee and Brad Tavares will meet in the first semifinal bout, with Kris and Josh meeting in the other for the second time this season. 

It’s time for this week’s big reveal, AKA the worst-kept secret in TUF history. As footage plays of mid-decade fights, Rich Franklin is introduced as the show’s new coach, and predictably, Team Ortiz has become Team Franklin. Everyone seems excited about the prospect of having Rich as their coach, apparently forgetting that he has posted a mediocre 3-3 record in his last six outings. Then again, considering Chuck is 2-4 and Tito is 2-3-1, Rich is looking like a pretty good choice. Dana prepares to introduce Rich’s assistant coaches, but the segment suddenly ends. Two cliffhangers in a 5-minute span? Way to run the well dry. 

Random thoughts: 

Were you the least bit surprised to learn that Tito had dropped out of the fight via text message? 

Could Dana have sounded any more sick than he did during the testimonials at the start of the show? 

Wasn’t it kind of presumptuous of Dana to tell Chuck he’d be fighting at the end of the season, rather than asking him if that was what he wanted, or letting him know who his opponent would be? 

How silly would Dana have looked if Chuck decided he didn’t want to fight Rich? 

If Tito was just in the next room – with the door open, no less – why didn’t Chuck just go confront him after he left his meeting with Dana? 

Considering how much larger he appeared than Josh, isn’t it hard to believe Jamie was actually lighter than Josh at the weigh-in? 

Why did we see the same shot of Chuck smiling at Tito at both the beginning and end of the weigh-in segment? 

Wasn’t it ironic to hear Josh put over his housemates’ toughness at the exact moment as footage rolled of him sketching on a pink bed? 

Did you notice all the beer cans and bottles in the trash bag Josh was removing from the house? 

Do these guys not know how to recycle? 

Why did both Chuck and Jamie make reference to Jamie’s reach advantage, when the tale of the tape showed his reach to be the same as Josh? 

What was with Jamie wanting to touch gloves, a minute and a half into the fight? 

Who was the guy doing the Hacksaw Jim Duggan-esque “Hooooooo!!,” outside the cage during the first round? 

When you saw Jamie get away with grabbing the fence and hitting Josh in the back of the head, didn’t it suddenly become obvious that Steve Mazzagatti was the referee? 

During the “Inside the Octagon” segment, when Gray Maynard said that “paper don’t fight paper,” did he forget that this actually can happen during a game of “rock-paper-scissors”? 

Did you hear Tito no-selling the low-blow that connected on Jamie, telling him that his recovery was allowing Josh to rest? 

When Jamie started gassing hard toward the end of round 2, did you remember his comment earlier about the chin having no cardio? 

How exciting was the second half of round 2? 

I know they have their “Minority Report” clique and everything, but how come no one cared when Team Liddell’s Brad cheered for Jamie, when similar efforts have been treated as treasonous in previous seasons? 

Anyone else pick up on the irony of Tito pleading with Jamie to not quit, given his own decisions on this show? 

“The Karate Kid”? No thank you. 

Did Brad think he was being supportive when he gave Jamie an “I told you so” speech after the fight? 

Since when does Dana personally get involved with the medical care of his fighters? 

And if he was kicking him off the show anyway, why did he care if Tito went in for a second opinion? 

Dana really couldn’t have just let Tito finish out the season? 

Dumping it all on him as soon as he got back from the hospital might not have been the nicest thing to do, but still, don’t you have to respect Kris for shooting so straight with Jamie when the returned to the house? 

How did Tito resist the temptation to rake Dana over the coals in front of his team? 

Given the recent overrun issues of this show, was anyone surprised to see another apparent production gaffe when the semifinal announcements were interrupted by a Spike TV ad? 

What does it say about the relevance of the UFC 115 main event, when promos show years-old footage of Franklin and Liddell in their prime? 

What was the deal with the never-ending handshake between Brad and Court? 

Unless it’s Tito himself, is anyone sitting on the edge of their seat to find out who Rich’s assistant coach will be? 

Mark Carpowich can be contacted at markcarpowich@hotmail.com.