Vinicius Magalhaes talks about his departure from Team Quest and the move to the PRO-AM Training Center in Murrieta, CA. He also gives some insite on what went down with Nogueria at TUF 8.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 8: Episode 6
In typical TUF fashion, we get a replay of the previous week, with a focus on Marshall’s win over Primm, and the subsequent control earned by Team Mir. With all the fighters thrilled, you’d think it was Christmas. Even Mir is pumped up, and he suggests that Junie take Delgado out. Of course, Junie thinks this a great idea, as he doesn’t think Roli should be there to begin with. Mir doesn’t disagree and adds that Roli’s not really an athlete. On the flip, the guys from Team Nogueira BEG Roli to beat Junie. What does Roli think? He says that he’s being underestimated and that he can sub him (Let’s hope so!).
When they get back to the house, the coaches from Team Mir go to the house to celebrate their win. Everyone is in high spirits. Then the drama starts. Mir questions where Roli got his black belt in Jiu Jitsu. Roli then begins and long and drawn out explanation about how he got it in Brazil (in just a week!). Everyone is rolling their eyes in clear disbelief as Roli is talking. Lawlor and Marshall say his stories never match up. Junie jokes that he probably bought it from McDonald’s. Clearly frustrated that he is telling the story again, Roli tells Mir that this is the third time he’s explained it. But Mir doesn’t understand why Roli gets so upset about being asked, as it’s something everyone gets asked, including himself. And of course he takes that opportunity to tell the story of breaking Tim Sylvia’s arm to get his black belt.
Later in the day, the drama continues. Junie begins his ceremonial trash talk to Roli. He even offers to make Roli a deal: if Roli makes it out of the first round, he’ll let Roli have the win (and I think he’s serious!). With this, Roli realizes that he’s got to let Junie self-destruct (then he starts to brag). To complete the metaphor, Roli compares Junie to a small businessman trying to call out Donald Trump (at which point I rolled my eyes…).
Though the next fight is already known, they have the fight announcement: Junie Browning v. Rolando Delgado. When the guys come out to shake hands, Junie comes out with a black belt and throws it at Roli. He then tries to get in Roli’s face and pushes him, but Roli just laughs. And just to further rub the salt in the wound, Junie spits on the belt. (Just a side note, did anyone else notice that Dana was MIA in all this?)
This ridiculous display gets everyone up in arms. Even his own coach says that Junie needs to get his act together on a personal level. Nog doesn’t have anything nice to say either. Nogueira rightfully says that Junie has no respect and that he does it just for attention. Anderson Silva, who is amazingly still there, tries to use the incident to pump Roli up. (They end the scene nicely, with a tight zoom on the belt in which we see that it says Mcdojo BJJ – I have to give him credit for creativity).
Later on at the Team Nogueira Training Session, Roli is sparring with Stankie and discussing strategy. Roli expects Junie to gas, and that’s where his experience will prove to work in his favor. They only concession Roli gives is that Junie has more strength and athleticism. To counter this, they show progressive shots of him getting better at sparring and with the speed bag.
The tone is entirely different at the Team Mir Training Session. Junie seems to have made it a mental game. He says he’s in Roli’s head, that he’s scared, and that Roli doesn’t want to fight him. Junie jumps on the scale to check his weight and finds that he is at 163, so it is time to cut weight. Junie promises that due to his consistency he’ll be one of the best fighters in the world.
Later, at the official weigh-in, Roli weighs in at 155, while Junie is still over at 158!! He is given one hour to cut his weight, but Mir is justifiably angry that Junie keeps making stupid decisions. Mir is brooding. And what happens if he doesn’t make weight? They lose and Roli gets the win.
Mir is clearly frustrated with Junie and his actions. Nog, however, looks at this as an advantage – that all the work to cut weight will make him tired. Junie throws on a sweat suit and gets on the treadmill. They even take the stationary bike and put it outside in the sun to make him sweat more. Junie wants to quit, wants to stop, continually complaining about his legs and about being sore. But he pushes through because the coaches won’t let him quit.
The guys begin to give their two cents about the fight. Lawlor agree with Junie in that he thinks that Roli is legitimately afraid. Polakowski, with great hope in his voice, thinks Roli will surprise everyone and knows that people are secretly hoping for Junie to lose because he’s such an asshole.
And despite all we were hoping for, Junie weights in at 156 on his second attempt
Fight Day (already???)
The guys load into their respective vans and head to the gym. And that smack talk begins. Again, Junie repeats that Roli is afraid him. Junie, though, is not afraid of Roli, he’s more afraid of his sister. Roli is said to be out of his league. Junie may talk shit, but he backs it up. Roli says he’s never wanted to hit someone more than he wants to hit Junie (I doubt he’s alone in this!). While he admits that Junie is tough and athletic, he doesn’t think he’s as good as he thinks he is.
(Side Note; It’s only 10:31! WTF?!?)
In the tale of the tape, there is a CLEAR height/reach advantage for Roli. We can only hope this is a factor.
Round 1
Browning comes out aggressively. Delgado tries to kick him, but he gets caught and Browning throws him to the ground. Delgado is backing up a lot. They clinch and Delgado attempts knees (which almost hit Junie in the head since he’s so short by comparison). Delgado lands a few good shots to the head. This is responded to with a good kick from Browning followed by a good jab from Delgado. Delgado is throwing a lot of punches but looks afraid to land them. Delgado looks nervous. A good body shot from Delgado, and they exchange kicks. Browning isn’t really fighting. Another good leg kick from Delgado. Browning gets in a couple body shots. Weak jab exchanges form both. This is followed by an awkward combo from Delgado and continued weak exchanges. Browning keeps egging Delgado, telling him to hit him. A good leg kick from Browning. Thus far, Delgado’s reach is looking like a huge advantage as he is able to get away from Browning’s jabs. But the fight is almost as if it’s in slow motion. Finally, Delgado goes for a takedown, but Browning practically falls on him. Delgado just lies on the ground. Browning steps back to let him up. Delgado goes for a kick, but Browning catches it and Delgado falls. Two HUGE rights from Browning (finally), but he doesn’t fall. Two more HUGE rights. And the round ends in the clinch.
Round 2
Back to their dancing. Delgado fakes a kick. Browning swings and lands a good shot. Delgado goes for a failed flying knee. Browning swings and Delgado ducks and goes for the takedown which Browning sprawls to defend. Both are back up on their feet. Delgado finally lands a solid punch. He goes for another takedown but Browning runs (literally). Browning seems to have snapped into it. A good bodyshot from Browning. Delgado with a leg kick. Browning lands two solid punches to Delgado’s face. Delgado is looking clearly gassed. Good body, chin combo from Browning, but Delgado’s punches are half-assed. A good knee from Delgado followed by a good combo from Browning. They exchange jabs. Delgado nails Browning with a good body kick, but Browning comes back with another good shot to Delgado’s face. Browning nails him with a heavy fist to the face and drops him. Browning pounces, but Delgado is able to defend. Browning backs off and allows him stand. Back on their feet, Browning continues to dominate. Delgado continues to throw up weak shots. Both are cut. Browning goes for spinning back fist but misses. Delgado also attempts one, but Browning blocks. Now even Browning is gassed. To end the round, Delgado lands a couple good shots to Browning’s face.
At this point, I’m figuring there has GOT to be a third round. Though it was weak, Delgado had Round 1, and Browning totally dominated in Round 2. It’s expected that there will be a third round….and there is.
Round 3
Immediately we see a good leg kick from Browning, followed up by good jabs from both. Browning tries for the big Liddell overhand but misses. Then he tries a spinning leg but misses. It seems like Browning is just dancing around. Another jab exchange with a good punch from Browning. A good leg kick, jab combo from Browning. Continues with 2 more rights to Delgado’s face. They continue these exchanges, but both look weak. Browning lands a good body shot. He then fakes a leg kick and goes for the spinning back fist. Delgado is swinging weakly and wildly. He goes to kick, but Browning catches it and Delgado falls. With Delgado on his back, Browning kicks at his legs and knees. They are warned to advance, but nothing changes; Browning keeps kicking. Delgado finally gets up and gets caught by two solid rights from Browning. Delgado follows with a good left. Browning connects with Delgado’s face and wobbles him, so Delgado returns the favor. A good overhand left from Browning. The round is ended with two leg kicks and a body kick from Delgado.
After the fight, the coaches weigh in. Smilingly, Nog declares that they thought it’d be an easy fight for Junie. It wasn’t. And what Mir doesn’t understand is why Junie let Roli continue to hit him throughout the first round. Thankfully in the second round he woke up. Dana simply notices that both guys were completely exhausted by the third round.
Winner: Junie Browning (split decision)
Surprisingly, Junie gives Roli a lot of respect. He admits that Roli really won that fight for making it out of the first round. And in an even stranger turn, Junie goes to Nog and tries to explain and apologize for the black belt joke. Junie admits he went about things all wrong (the training, the jokes, etc).Roli, to no one’s surprise, is in the back and is disappointed and crying. Nog is proud of Roli and his big heart. How touching.
In scenes from next week, we see the guys from Team Mir running around with snorkels. It is said that he is upping the intensity of their training. Nog, on the other hand, is seen to be more relaxed.
As far as the house goes, the pranks seem to get more personal (something with headstones???).
And there will be another Light Heavyweight fight, but who has yet to be seen (there are multiple shots of Krzysztof…maybe him?)
I’m just hoping that maybe now we will see less of Junie. A girl can hope, can’t she?
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The Ultimate Fighter 8: Episode 3 Recap
To begin episode three, we are shown shots of the previous two episodes in which eight Lightweights and eight Light Heavyweights make it through the fighting round to get into the house. The highlights of these fights are that: Junie Browning forces opponent to quit; Krzysztof Soszynski only needs seven punches to win and two others may be too injured to continue (great teaser).
We are then teased with rapid shots of Vegas and its chaos. The boys arrive at the house and surprisingly (I’m kidding, obviously) Browning is already drinking and talking elaborately about his crappy childhood. He is even shown drinking Jack straight out of the bottle. We get little snippets of several fighters, each telling a little bit of their history and why they’re there. Soszynski had never been in a fight in his life; he starting training in Jiu Jitsu not long before sending his tape to the show and won his first fight. While the rest of the guys are cooking, they are talking about their injuries – those of Grigoryian and McLaughlin in particularl. Both had CT Scans and both have fractures in their nose. Obviously neither wants to be sent home. But someone wisely chimes in “It’s not broken. Yet.â€
The next day, the fighters and the coaches are gathered back at the gym for team selection. But before the process can begin, Dana calls Brian McLaughlin and Karn Grigoryan to step forward. Then he breaks their hearts. Because of the rules of the Nevada Athletic Commission, due to their injuries they are both put on 180-day suspensions – too long to be on the show, so they are sent home…but neither leaves. They kind of just hang around sadly like the girlfriend you just broke up with. Dana doesn’t want to be insensitive, but he tells them they have to leave.
In light of the situation, and after discussing it with the coaches, they bring back Kyle Kingsbury and an unnamed 155 pounder who they already flew home and now they need to fly back. The coach with last pick gets the unnamed. Mir wins the coin toss and opts to pick first. Once the selection process is over, here are the teams (in alpha order):
Frank Mir
Junie Browning
Dave Kaplan
Tom Lawlor
Vinicius Magalhaes
Eliot Marshal
Shane Nelson
George Roop
Krzysztof Soszynski (first pick)
Antonio Nogueira
Ryan Bader (first pick)
Jules Bruchez
Efrain Escudero
Kyle Kingsbury
Phillipe Nover
John Polakowski
Shane Primm
Unnamed LW
Since Mir chose the first fighter, Nogueira will choose the first fight. After making their choices, Mir feels he has the strongest team, physically, while Nog is simply looking for teamwork.
Back at the gym for a training session, Mir pontificates on what it means to him to be a coach. He feels like this is an opportunity for him to learn martial arts better, and demonstrates that martial arts are cyclical. You are a student, then an instructor, and then a student again. While he values the teams, he feels that MMA is an individual sport because everyone is fighting for himself. Finally, we meet his coaches: Ken Hahn for standup and Robert Drysdale, for Jiu Jitsu.
Meanwhile, at the house the drunken antics are embarked upon once again. Junie is seen hitting his teammates with a what looks like a school pointer. In a strange moment, he asks Bader to hit him with it and call him Kunta Kinte. He promises to everyone that he will be the entertainment, at which time he climbs the balcony railing in an effort to jump into a tree. In frustration that he’s not getting the attention he wants, he starts knocking shit over. While Krzysztof says he just wants the attention and dubs him the Chris Leben of the show, Escudero thinks it might be his strategy to throw them off and Nover wonders if his parents didn’t love him.
Just when you think his craziness has played out, Junie then lays on the ground by the pool and starts crying. He says it’s hard to be normal when you grow up with such a shit life. In his crying rant, he wonders what he has to live for, which leads Shane Nelson to thinks he’s bipolar as they’ve witness the whole spectrum of human emotions. The last shot of the night is someone throwing a blanket over him passed out in the living room.
The next day, everyone is trying to figure out which Lightweight they’re going to bring back. A lot of Lightweights were hurt so no one knows who it could be. Then we see a mystery man walking into the house… it’s Roli Delgado. The guys in generally seem to like him. Roop shows no concern because he already knows how to beat him.
At Team Nogueira’s training session we get Nog’s take on coaching: he loves to teach, loves to coach. He’s always jumping in with tips. Then we meet the coaches he’s brought in: Daniel Valverde for Jiu Jitsu and Al “Stankie†Stankiewicz for standup (who is 67!). I was a little shocked at Stankie’s age at first. He may be old, but man does he bring energy, and he just commands respect with his presence.
Shortly after, Dana comes in for the fight announcement. Since team Mir picked the first fighter, Nog gets to pick the first fight. He chooses Ryan Bader vs. Tom Lawlor.
At Lawlor’s training session, we learn a little about him and what Mir thinks of his chances. Lawlor is from American Top Team in Orlando. Mir thinks he has a great base and great landing with solid standup.
While Nog’s team is the gym, Soszynski decides to play a prank on Bader by shrink wrapping all of his underwear and socks to his bed. Soszynski says he might be the quiet one, but he’s got ideas. Then they take the WHOLE team’s underwear and shrink-wrap it in a ball. Could it be the beginning of a prank war?
At Bader’s training session, we learn about Bader, as well as Nog’s opinion of him. Bader is fighting out of Tempe, AZ, and has only been fighting for a little over a year. He was a championship-level collegiate wrestler. After college, he got a desk job that didn’t satisfy him and eventually found MMA to be more enriching. While Nog admits that both Bader and Lawlor come from a wrestling background, he feels that Ryan is much more experienced. He claims that Bader is one of the best Light Heavyweights he has.
When Team Nogueira returns to the house, they notice they have things missing. Eventually, they find a big wad of cellophane taped to the diving board. Upon this discovery, they cut it open and find all their missing belongings wrapped inside. It took them 10-15 minutes to get it all out and Nover does not seem to take it well. Once they finish unwrapped, they still can’t find Bader’s stuff, so Primm asks if he checked his mattress. He does and sure enough he finds it all…and declares war. Without even walking in the door, Team Mir is already anticipating a comeback. Soszynski says watching Bader peel his bed was hysterical. Even Primm says it’s a great non-harmful prank. Soszynski is actually looking forward to retaliation… and denies all involvement. Bader says he wants to stay away from it.
Once the weigh-ins are over, Nog makes an appearance at the house. He and the other coaches come over for dinner. From what they guys have said, it means a lot to them, as it shows their camaraderie and support. Nog jokes that he is impressed with their cooking, adding that if they aren’t fighters they should open a restaurant. Bader even sees his presence as a calming effect. Browning on the other hand sees this whole scene and dislikes it – he bitterly calls it gay the way they sit around acting like family. Browning adds the Mir, etc. are his “temporary coachesâ€, and that his real coaches are back home. Truth be told, it seemed more like he was jealous.
Fight Day
Before the fight, Lawlor feels motivated because he is the underdog. Bader, however, fought his friend as his first fight and had no problem putting elbows in his face. Both seem pretty evenly matched up.
Light Heavyweights
Tom Lawlor v.Ryan Bader
Round 1:
Bader seems more aggressive, throws a few punches, then goes for the takedown but can’t get it. They clinch and separate a couple times. A good left from Bader. Bader goes for the takedown again and gets it this time. While in half mount, Bader nails Lawlor’s ribs a few times as well as his head. Has some decent ground and pound, but you hear his corner calling for knees. Lawlor manages to twist and they are back on their feet. Lawlor comes at Bader swinging and they clinch. Both separate and swing. As Lawlor goes for a jab, Bader takes advantage and takes him down. In half mount, he is constantly trying to swing his hips into full mount. Good elbows from and jabs from Bader. Lawlor persistently tries to pass his guard, but is unsuccessful. Bader is warned for shots to the back of the head, so he punches the ribs instead. Lawlor gets his feet under Bader’s chest and kicks him off. With the new space, Bader lets a huge right fly – and practically knocks Lawlor out on the ground. Herb Dean stops it.
Winner: Ryan Bader via TKO
Post fight, both coaches have their opinions. Mir thinks the fight started as he expected with Bader going for the takedown and Lawlor succesffuly defending. Mir is disappointed with the ending, saying it was a mistake, but it’s ok. Lawlor should’ve exploded when he kicked Bader off, but he just kicked him off giving Bader the room to come in with an explosive punch. Nog was obviously pleased. Bader did everything they were working on and really impressed him. In Nog’s eyes, Bader’s ready to beat everyone at 205. Nog was also happy that everyone was trying to help Bader out and felt the team was tight.
The show finally ends with scenes from next week. No shocker, the drinking in the house gets out of control, and one fighter (Shane Nelson) tries to bait another (Efrain Escudero) to fight. Once again, Junie takes it too far, which forces Dana to step in and make a difficult decision. He chastises the group for watching the idiots of previous seasons, and now acting like those idiots. And thank you, Dana, for giving the preview some great lines to pique our interest:
“You’re lucky you didn’t get killed.†“You’re a great fighter but you’re a jackass when you drink.â€
And though it pales in comparison to the rest of the drama, Team Nogueira picks the first Lightweight fight.
** Side note: Sometimes I wish that I didn’t have a clock in the room when I watch this. I hate it that the fight will finally start and when I look at the clock it’s 10:52, thereby telling me the fight doesn’t go past the first round! Sorry, just had to air my frustration! **
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