They recap the Carter vs. Serra fight and I was proud of Matt a little more after watching it. Serra spent a lot of time helping others this season and it was good to see him get a win for himself.
In the house a plot starts to form out of boredom in Pete Spratt's mind and it involves running head first in to a wall. His intention is to bust through it wearing football shoulder pads and a helmet. He measured the wall with his eyes on the inside and on the outside of the house preparing the blueprint for his stunt. Why he would choose a wall that leads to the backyard I have no idea. It would have been easier for him to break down an inside wall, but hey........who doesn't want to see someone break themselves in half, right?
Mikey Burnett decides he has had enough of the talk and takes the mission on himself to make it through the wall. Only, Mikey decides to go without any protective gear. Unless, of course you count the swimming goggles he is wearing. The first attempt, started in a traditional football three point stance, makes some small holes in the wall and sends Mikey to the ground for his efforts. The second and third shots introduce Burnett to a metal stud that refuses to give an inch. Mikey cuts himself on the final attempt and settles for the damage he has managed to do both to himself and the house.
The fighters of TUF 4 are given a rare opportunity to watch the season 3 Ultimate Fighter finale live on television. This gives them some great insight as to what the finals are going to be like for them and puts a different perspective on things now that they can see the light at the end of the tunnel get a little closer. The show fires Pete Sell up and some of the other fighters as well. I thought that this was a very interesting thing for the UFC to do since none of the other seasons got to see something like this.
They didn't get the opportunity to see the previous seasons finalists fight and win or to see the prizes awarded that they themselves are fighting for.
It must have been a great thing for all of the semi-finalists, but a nightmare for the ones who have already lost and are forced to see what could have been.
Dana was right on the money in his questioning Pete Sell's choice to fight Travis Lutter. Sure, he's being loyal to Patrick Cote, but even my wife Sarah knew this was a terrible match-up for him. I guarantee that his jiu jitsu coach Matt Serra knew this too, but prepared Sell anyways. Chuck Liddell came out and trained with Pete and you could tell that Sell was very impressed with the UFC light heavyweight champion's demeanour and advice.
Chuck helps him with takedown defenses and the proper distancing for striking when your opponent is against the fence. Sell looks like he is absorbing this like a sponge, but how much of this will he remember inside the Octagon when it is fight time?
Back at the house Shonie Carter starts doing one of my favorite things and starts throwing cards to pass the time. Before you know it the whole house gets involved, but they are terrible at it and can't defend themselves against Shonie's semi-accurate throwing. Shortly after the start of Shonie's card attack they discover that there are paper plates handy and hurl those back at their assailant. Paper plates followed by poker chips and a nice assortment of domestic weaponry are sent hurtling towards Carter who doesn't flinch at all. It all escalates in to a giant war inside the house when Rich Clementi appears with a homemade cardboard shield strapped to his arm. They make Mikey Burnett a giant cardboard helmet that they secure very, very, very tightly with tape around his body. Ice cream, then Twinkies, and just about every food in the refrigerator is utilized as an instrument of destruction during the all out food fight. Hiding behind couches, they unleash barrage after barrage of food until Mikey Burnett’s gigantic helmet gets hit one too many times and he surrenders. The house is completely wrecked as Travis Lutter makes his way out to train......alone.
Because he is the only one in the semi-finals left from team no love he is off to the gym to train by himself. Mark Delagrotte works out with him and expresses his faith in Lutter's abilities and chances to win. Travis is all business and although I don't think he will ever be champion, I believe he may win a few more fights in the UFC.
Fight day comes and they waste no time.
Round 1 – Pete Sell and Travis Lutter exchange jabs and I actually thought for a moment that we were going to see Lutter stand with Sell. He proves me wrong after they lock-up and he takes down Sell with little to no resistance.
Lutter is much bigger and stronger than Pete and it showed in this fight.
Lutter passes Sell's guard easily several times in this round. He attempts a kimura, an arm bar, and then unleashes some good ground and pound that cuts Sell right before the round ends.
Round 2- Sell just lets his hands go and narrowly misses landing an uppercut that would have put the lights out for Travis had it connected. Lutter gets the takedown exactly as he did in the first round. Sell does manage to force guard on Travis who is obviously a little gassed and goes in to lay and pray mode for about 30 seconds before attempting another arm bar. Lutter passes guard and starts his ground and pound again before attempting an Americana that almost finishes the fight had he locked it in. Pete Sell survives another round.
Round 3- Lutter gets the takedown in precisely the same manner as he did in the first two rounds. Travis almost immediately gets the mount and starts more ground and pound after Pete fights to get him in the guard. Big John McCarthy stands them up and Lutter takes it right back to the ground. More ground and pound finishes the fight with Pete where he was the entire fight and that's on his back.
Winner of the first middleweight semi-final and moving on to the finals - Travis Lutter.
I bet this fight would have was scored 30-24 with all three rounds going 10-8 for Lutter. Sell had NOTHING in this fight to offer against Lutter's ground game. I thought that Lutter would be able to finish him, but my hat is off to Pete for putting up some good defense against submissions.
It was a decent fight, but it will not help the ratings and this episode should be well below the 1.2 rating that the Serra vs. Carter fight got on the previous episode.
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