I wish there was going to be a long review of this week's episode, but there were not enough noteworthy events offered in this week's show. A note, I was playing chess with my new Grandmaster Elite Platinum chess computer during most of the show because, really....... that's how much they were struggling for material. You have to give it to the crew of this show, they really do try to make things interesting with little to no material to build off of.
So, pretty much the focus of all of the house drama this week centered around Charles McCarthy. After Burnett's loss last week, Charles was extremely bummed out. Mikey is his roommate and McCarthy apparently took it really hard when he lost. Matt Serra is not amused and starts poking and prodding at Charles who is soon after aptly named, "Captain Miserable". Charles is definitely a pessimist in every since of the word and the guys don't let up on pointing this out to him at all. Both Charles and Jorge are worried about who might pick them to fight and Jorge makes it clear that he wants to fight Pete and not Patrick Cote. When Shonie plays a joke and writes "Personality" down on Charles McCarthy's grocery wish list, Captain Miserable takes it personally. He blames Sell because the handwriting matches his pretty closely. Sell and Charles exchange some stern words and Pete makes it clear that he wants to fight Charles during a confessional cam moment.
One of the coolest moments of the show came when Randy Couture entered the house and told Jorge that his wife had just given birth. Amp'd Mobile provided a phone for him so he could see his wife and baby girl via a camera phone at the hospital. The guys took turns congratulating him and it was a brief moment of happiness for them all.
The show has a new coach and a good one to boot. Rich Franklin is brought out by Dana and the fighters all seem pleased. McCarthy immediately tells Rich that he appreciated the middleweight champion's 5 round pummeling of David Loiseau and his heart for fighting with a broken hand for the last three rounds. Rivera and others express their happiness with the choice because they believe that right now, Rich is on top of his game. There are a lot of lighthearted moments with Franklin and the other fighters and you can't help but smile when these guys are having a good time. The beauty of it all is that Rich has to fight the winner of the show and I am sure that some will say he will not train them as well because of it, but real fans know better. Guys like Randy Couture, Georges St Pierre, and Rich Franklin give one hundred percent all of the time.
The fight announcements came and Pete Sell gets his wish to fight Charles McCarthy. The fight started at around 10:30 so I knew it was going to be a long one. Round one starts with some jabs and then a Pete Sell takedown. This is where the fight stayed for the rest of the first round. McCarthy was hurt early during a rolling exchange and Sell capitalized. Charles did recover, but it was too late and Pete got the first round very easily. Round two was a different story, altogether. Captain miserable took control from his nemesis, the diabolical Drago, when the fight went down to the ground after Sell pulled guard and attempted a guillotine choke. Charles escaped and then dominated the action with good positioning and submission attempts. Round two went to McCarthy. One round a piece and the fight has to go one more round. In round 3, it was all Drago and he continued to ground and pound McCarthy mercilessly despite the desperate submission attempts made by Captain Miserable.
The winner of the fight and moving on to the semi-finals is Pete "Drago" Sell.
This week offered little to no drama and was a rather dull episode on the whole. The addition of Franklin, Rivera's baby, and the decent fight saved it from being a terrible one. With the ratings slipping, I hope this episode helps them rise back to their previous levels because the show needs to keep growing to stay on the air. Like I said before, I am a TUF fan and love the show, so I will support however and whenever I can. Free MMA is good MMA. 'nuff said.
)
