Sherdog.com’s Guide to the Ultimate Fighter
Scott Holmes Apr 21, 2006
So here we are at week three of The Ultimate Fighter. Mr.
Shamrock's team lost last week as Noah eliminated Jesse. Shamrock
decides to teach his guys some "hand-eye coordination" by hitting
some golf balls at the range.
This must be some producer lead crap since this won't help anyone fight better. Hitting a golf ball consistently is arguably harder than hitting a baseball, which is considered by most to be the hardest thing to do athletically. How can two hours of this activity help your fight game? If it could, Shamrock would train with John Daly and Vijay Singh would be rolling Matt Hughes (Pictures) up in a few weeks.
Sometimes I just don't get this show.
Moving on, Ed Herman (Pictures) is still steaming over Tito Ortiz (Pictures) not choosing him during the team draft. Ed vents over a couple of whiskeys and the editors do a good job of leading us to believe that he will fight in this episode.
Remember last year when Matt Hughes (Pictures) made it a point to get under Jorge Gurgel (Pictures)'s skin? Looks like Tito is fanning the flames with Ed, which should give me something to crack jokes about later in the season.
Back at the house Ross weighs-in at 199 after a big dinner. He's making weight the next day and everyone chastises him for eating and re-hydrating. Ross is indignant about it and goes to off to bed after getting an earful.
Maybe Ross is a tad stubborn and maybe he loves to be his own man but it doesn't matter because somehow he loses eight pounds overnight, a shocking amount since he didn't really do anything in between. I gotta hand it to the guy because I just knew he wouldn't make weight.
Ross heads out to the YMCA to get his sweat on and crosses paths with a lithe Kendall, who seems ready to go. Shamrock and Ortiz ignore each other on the way into the Y and it's becoming more and more apparent that these guys really, really hate each other. Ross spends his time in the sauna and once they both weigh in the fight is on as they have both made 185.
Once the weigh-in has passed, Ross digs in on some pizza, garlic bread and some ice cream to reward himself for all the cutting. Lanky Kendall sticks with sushi and now I'm more excited about this fight than either of the previous two.
I love size differences and style differences … they are the key to MMA competition in my book. Most of the other competitors express their opinion that Kendall will win since he's got the length and ground skills to neutralize Ross's brawling tendencies.
Like I said, Kendall is very lanky. Six-foot-five and 185 pounds makes you pretty dang skinny, skinny enough to not have a shadow. Ross on the other hand is 5' 8” so the reach advantage for Kendall is ridiculous and it will be interesting to see if Kendall will get suckered into walking into danger. Also, since Kendall is from Hawaii and Ross is British that alone is worth a look.
Who doesn't want to see intercontinental bouts?
(I swear if one of you e-mails me to tell me that Hawaii isn't a continent I will take your mother out for a nice seafood dinner and never call her again.)
So somewhere along the line Kendall and Solomon Hutcherson have formed some sort of alliance. I'd delve more into it, but I'm not sure how an alliance really works in this show, eventually you have to fight and beyond that, each week your team may not be in any position to make the choices on who fights whom. So for now I'll predict that this alliance won't mean anything in a few weeks but they are able to get one sneaky thing across since Solomon tells Kendall that Ross always starts his fights off with leg kicks. Kendall now knows this and is prepared.
It's fight time and as these two square off, as predicted Ross tosses out a few leg kicks that Kendall doesn't even attempt to check. Kendall now feels confident that he knows Ross's game and bides his time until he's able to rush Ross against the fence and take him down. Ross is able to trap Kendall's arms and squirms his way back up, but Kendall takes him down again with a double.
Ross is able to stand back up but while his fence is to the back Kendall throws very hard elbows and punches. Surprisingly tight hard throws for such a long-armed guy. Kendall gets a knee off on Ross and now Ross is beginning to look outclassed. Kendall continues to take Ross down only to stand back up again and then finally, as Ross tries to stand, Kendall takes his back and secures a rear-naked choke. They both fall and Ross taps on the way down giving Kendall the win.
Team Punishment wins another fight and maintains control of the match-ups for next week. The unholy alliance between Kendall and Solomon remains strong and their "Team Dagger" cries are heard throughout the world.
Don't ask me about the dagger reference because I'm not really sure what it means yet. It's one of those things that all guys do, come up with something amusing to you and your friends … fixate on it for three weeks until it becomes old and then forget about it. Currently my roommate has a new nickname "Bazooka King," which makes no sense, is hilarious to us, but should run its course by next week right about the time for TUF week four.
This must be some producer lead crap since this won't help anyone fight better. Hitting a golf ball consistently is arguably harder than hitting a baseball, which is considered by most to be the hardest thing to do athletically. How can two hours of this activity help your fight game? If it could, Shamrock would train with John Daly and Vijay Singh would be rolling Matt Hughes (Pictures) up in a few weeks.
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Moving on, Ed Herman (Pictures) is still steaming over Tito Ortiz (Pictures) not choosing him during the team draft. Ed vents over a couple of whiskeys and the editors do a good job of leading us to believe that he will fight in this episode.
Ed is convinced that he is the best in the house and later even
Tito admits that he should have picked Ed. Instead of apologizing,
Tito feeds the flame by choosing another fighter, Ross Pointon, to fight and stares
at Ed in the process. Ed is incensed.
Remember last year when Matt Hughes (Pictures) made it a point to get under Jorge Gurgel (Pictures)'s skin? Looks like Tito is fanning the flames with Ed, which should give me something to crack jokes about later in the season.
Back at the house Ross weighs-in at 199 after a big dinner. He's making weight the next day and everyone chastises him for eating and re-hydrating. Ross is indignant about it and goes to off to bed after getting an earful.
Maybe Ross is a tad stubborn and maybe he loves to be his own man but it doesn't matter because somehow he loses eight pounds overnight, a shocking amount since he didn't really do anything in between. I gotta hand it to the guy because I just knew he wouldn't make weight.
Ross heads out to the YMCA to get his sweat on and crosses paths with a lithe Kendall, who seems ready to go. Shamrock and Ortiz ignore each other on the way into the Y and it's becoming more and more apparent that these guys really, really hate each other. Ross spends his time in the sauna and once they both weigh in the fight is on as they have both made 185.
Once the weigh-in has passed, Ross digs in on some pizza, garlic bread and some ice cream to reward himself for all the cutting. Lanky Kendall sticks with sushi and now I'm more excited about this fight than either of the previous two.
I love size differences and style differences … they are the key to MMA competition in my book. Most of the other competitors express their opinion that Kendall will win since he's got the length and ground skills to neutralize Ross's brawling tendencies.
Like I said, Kendall is very lanky. Six-foot-five and 185 pounds makes you pretty dang skinny, skinny enough to not have a shadow. Ross on the other hand is 5' 8” so the reach advantage for Kendall is ridiculous and it will be interesting to see if Kendall will get suckered into walking into danger. Also, since Kendall is from Hawaii and Ross is British that alone is worth a look.
Who doesn't want to see intercontinental bouts?
(I swear if one of you e-mails me to tell me that Hawaii isn't a continent I will take your mother out for a nice seafood dinner and never call her again.)
So somewhere along the line Kendall and Solomon Hutcherson have formed some sort of alliance. I'd delve more into it, but I'm not sure how an alliance really works in this show, eventually you have to fight and beyond that, each week your team may not be in any position to make the choices on who fights whom. So for now I'll predict that this alliance won't mean anything in a few weeks but they are able to get one sneaky thing across since Solomon tells Kendall that Ross always starts his fights off with leg kicks. Kendall now knows this and is prepared.
It's fight time and as these two square off, as predicted Ross tosses out a few leg kicks that Kendall doesn't even attempt to check. Kendall now feels confident that he knows Ross's game and bides his time until he's able to rush Ross against the fence and take him down. Ross is able to trap Kendall's arms and squirms his way back up, but Kendall takes him down again with a double.
Ross is able to stand back up but while his fence is to the back Kendall throws very hard elbows and punches. Surprisingly tight hard throws for such a long-armed guy. Kendall gets a knee off on Ross and now Ross is beginning to look outclassed. Kendall continues to take Ross down only to stand back up again and then finally, as Ross tries to stand, Kendall takes his back and secures a rear-naked choke. They both fall and Ross taps on the way down giving Kendall the win.
Team Punishment wins another fight and maintains control of the match-ups for next week. The unholy alliance between Kendall and Solomon remains strong and their "Team Dagger" cries are heard throughout the world.
Don't ask me about the dagger reference because I'm not really sure what it means yet. It's one of those things that all guys do, come up with something amusing to you and your friends … fixate on it for three weeks until it becomes old and then forget about it. Currently my roommate has a new nickname "Bazooka King," which makes no sense, is hilarious to us, but should run its course by next week right about the time for TUF week four.
