The show opens with the official weigh-ins for Nick McCray vs. Kyle Noke.
OFFICIAL WEIGH-INS
Kris McCray (185) vs. Kyle Noke (185)
Kris and Kyle are friends, and Dana says they were pretty bummed about having to fight each other. Dana wants them to learn early that there are no friends in the UFC. He better hope neither guy joins American Kickboxing Academy.
I just want to point out that Nick Ring, since last week, has somehow managed to grow a sweet Hulk Hogan mustache. This leads me to believe one of two things: either Nick has the fastest-growing facial hair in the history of mankind, or this fight was actually taped much later than they’re leading us to believe.
Tito says that being friends with your opponent gives you an advantage because you know all of his strengths and weaknesses.
And the moment you’ve all been waiting for finally arrives. Tito tells his team that he went to the doctor for a checkup on his neck, and the doctor wants to do surgery. Not only that, but he wants to do it right away. Tito says that between his C6 and C7 vertebrae, the discs are putting pressure on his spinal cord. He has numbness down his arms and legs, has headaches on a daily basis and doesn’t sleep well. He’s not sure if he’s going to do the surgery. He’s been through one surgery before, and if it happens again, it happens again. He feels like he has another five or six years of competition left in his body, and if he keeps fighting injured he’s taking the chance of hurting himself even worse. He’s been fighting injured for the past six years and isn’t going to make the same mistake he made before. He’s not going to let Chuck beat him because he wasn’t 100 percent going into the fight. He’ll find out in the next couple of weeks if he’s going to be able to fight, but he’s putting it in God’s hands for now.
It’s fight day for Noke and McCray. Kris says it’s going to be weird looking at Kyle standing across from him in the Octagon. Kyle says he’s never fought one of his close friends before — he’s battled guys he knows, but never actually fought someone he’s close with. He’s hoping to just go in the cage and do his job. All fights are equally important to him, including this one.
KRIS MCCRAY VS. KYLE NOKE
Nick and Kris share a tender hug before the fight begins.
Round 1: Kris totally avoids the usual feeling-out process, lunging for a leg kick and a jab that barely connect. He moves in for what appears to be a takedown and Kyle catches him with two good punches. He’s resilient, though, and gets the takedown with a slam, moving into half guard. He has Noke pressed up against the fence, making it difficult for Noke to do anything. And of course, right when I type that, Noke shrimps his way out and gets back to his feet with his back pressed against the cage. Kris hits a knee to the inside thigh, and Noke uses that as an opportunity to break free and put some distance between him and McCray. Noke with an overhand right that is partially blocked. Kyle misses a second punch attempt, and Kris capitalizes with a trip into a takedown, falling into half guard again. Kyle shrimps his way out and gets back to his feet again. They exchange some ineffective knees to the midsection. Kris maintains a clinch and tries for another takedown slam, but Kyle is able to stuff it and locks in what appears to be a tight guillotine, but he’s unable to get both legs wrapped around McCray to really secure it. Kris gets back to his feet and Noke tries frantically to switch to a D’Arce choke, but can’t get it. Kris tries a double-leg but Noke’s back is against the cage. Kris switches to a single-leg, but Noke uses his weigh to push him to the ground. He tries a kimura but Kris rolls out, ending up back in the guard. Noke uses elbows from the bottom to prevent Kris from improving his position. Kyle with a big left hand from the bottom, followed by a big right that snaps McCray’s head back. The round ends. Dana says that Noke is doing far more from the bottom than McCray is doing from the top. I’d have to agree. Nick got more takedowns in the round and judges tend to look upon that favorably, but he did nothing with the position once he had it. Noke landed plenty of elbows and punches from the bottom and generally outworked McCray. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Kyle Noke.
Round 2: Kris opens with an overhand right that is partially deflected. He immediately shoots for a takedown, but Kyle sprawls and gets out. Kyle feints a jab and goes for a takedown of his own, but Kris reverses and takes Kyle down to a seated position. It doesn’t last long, however, as Kyle works his way back to his feet…only for Kris to slam him from behind. Kris works into half guard. Kyle attempts to shrimp out for a third time, but Kris has apparently learned his lesson and nullifies it by holding Noke’s left leg. Kris is keeping his head buried in Kyle’s chest to nullify the elbow strikes. Kyle eventually shrimps out and gets up, then drags Kris to the mat and ends up on his back. He tries to get the hooks in but can’t lock it. He wants a rear-naked choke but Kris does a great job of keeping him from sinking the hooks and moving enough to keep Kyle from gaining a solid position from which to execute the choke. Kyle gets one hook in and goes for the choke but can’t get under McCray’s chin. Kris rolls over and ends up in Noke’s guard, using short elbow strikes that don’t do much damage but are probably incredibly annoying. Kyle gets to a seated position but Kris puts him on his back again as the round ends. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Kris McCray.
We’re going to a third round, a fact that baffles Tito.
Round 3: Kris with a kick to the midsection followed by a left jab that lands flush. Kris lunges for a takedown that misses at first, but he puts Noke on his back just seconds later. Kris uses short elbows and punches while keeping Noke pressed against the cage. He does the exact same thing for the next three minutes. Noke is just helpless to get out. He can’t shrimp while he’s against the cage. With roughly 90 seconds remaining, Noke gets a kimura that looks good, but Kris rolls his arm out. Mazagatti stands them up with one minute left. Kyle tries a flying knee that misses and Kris gets a good grip around his midsection. They stay in the same position as the round comes to a close. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Kris McCray.
Official decision: Kris McCray d. Kyle Noke by decision
Dana says that Noke is a good fighter, but you can’t come into the sport and not have takedown defense.
We move right into the weigh-ins for Tavares vs. Baczynski
OFFICIAL WEIGH-INS
Brad Tavares (185.5) vs. Seth Baczynski (no weight announced)
Dana says that Seth is motivated, wants to win the whole thing and believes he has a shot at doing so.
Back at the house, Chuck is asked what’s up between he and Tito. Is he going to fight? Chuck says he better fight and launches into an expletive-filled tirade centering on what he plans to do to Tito. I think I caught roughly ten complete words that weren’t bleeped during the entire speech. Chuck tells the camera that if he has to put up with Tito for six weeks, he better get to fight him at the end. Nick’s Hogan mustache is also nowhere to be seen in this segment, but reappears during the next fight.
Tavares says the only thing he’s worried about is the fact that he likes Seth. He says he’s the youngest guy in the house and probably the least experienced, but he likes fighting all the old men. Seth says it doesn’t matter what your record is or how long you’ve been fighting — a fight is a fight.
BRAD TAVARES VS. SETH BACZYNSKI
Round 1: Seth opens up with a leg kick, then moves in with a jab into a single-leg but can’t get the takedown. They grapple back and forth for a bit before Seth gets a trip into a takedown, ending up in Brad’s guard. Tavares appears to go for a gogoplata, but Seth sweeps him aside and ends up on Brad’s back. He locks in a body triangle and hits Brad with punches from the back. Seth attempts a rear-naked but doesn’t get it, so he goes back to punching. Brad gets to his feet and tries to shake Seth off and get out the back door, but Seth stops it. Seth tries another rear-naked but it’s partially on the chin and Brad escapes. Seth continues to work for position while mixing in punches. Seth goes for an armbar and misses horribly, allowing Brad to escape and stand up. Brad drops some bombs while standing but barely avoids getting killed by axe kicks from the bottom. Brad gets on top but Seth goes for a triangle. Brad powerbombs him, but Seth keeps the triangle secured, so Brad powerbombs him again, this time causing Seth to release the hold. Shades of Rampage there. Seth tries an americana but misses. Brad stands up and drills Seth with big shots on the ground. Seth gets up and Brad quickly tries a knee but appears to get dropped during the transition. Seth then drills Brad with a nasty soccer kick while Brad is on the ground, causing Brad to go lights-out and fall face-first into the canvas as the round ends.
Seth apologizes for the knee, but Brad is so out of it that he asks why he’s apologizing before stumbling back to his corner and falling to the ground. He’s clearly out of sorts.
Team Liddell and the doctor check out Tavares. The doc points to Hackleman and asks Brad who he’s pointing at, to which Brad replies “coach.” The doctor asks Brad for his name, and Brad looks at Hackleman with a confused stare before finally producing “coach John.” Herb Dean pulls the doc aside and asks how Tavares is doing. The doc says Brad doesn’t know what he got hit with. Doc wants to give him a minute but says they have to decide pretty quickly. He asks Tavares if he wants to continue and Tavares can’t process the question quickly enough for his liking, so he tells Herb to call the fight. Seth drops to the mat in anguish.
One of the doctors tells Tito that the kick landed on Tavares’ chest and not his head. Saul Soliz is beside himself while pointing out this information. He says Team Liddell received one gift and they don’t need two. Rich Attonito takes great exception to this comment, saying that he got kneed in the head twice before calling Soliz a few choice names. Teammates try to calm Rich down but he says that Soliz disrespected him first. Soliz tells him to let it go.
Official decision: Brad Tavares d. Seth Baczynski by disqualification
Brad says it’s not how he wants to win the fight, but he wasn’t faking.
Tito goes ballistic, throwing water bottles before calling his team over while making sarcastic comments about Team Liddell getting another gift. Somebody on Team Liddell makes a comment and Tito walks towards them while screaming. This, quite obviously, does not sit well with Liddell, who has to be restrained from running over and knocking Tito out. The coaches scuffle, and we get a brief glimpse at Strikeforce middleweight champ (and future UFC signee) Jake Shields. Jake is perfectly at home in the midst of a rumble.
Dana looks on in disbelief, as if he totally didn’t expect this type of confrontation when he chose Liddell and Ortiz to coach this season.
Tito says any good father figure or coach will back up his team and he’ll do it every time. He tells Chuck to go watch the fight tape and then come back and apologize to him. Tito should probably watch the fight tape himself, because that kick certainly did land flush.
Chuck says he’d like to soccer kick Tito in the face and see if he can continue afterwards.
Dana finds Chuck in the hallways of the training center and pulls him in the office. He tells him that it’s as good of a time as any to break some bad news to him: Ortiz pulled out of the fight. Dana tells Chuck not to throw his phone and break it. Liddell gets up, says “I’m gonna go punch him,” and walks out of the office.
NEXT WEEK: Now that Tito isn’t fighting Chuck, will he also be forced out as a coach? Judging by the look on Tito’s face during an upcoming conversation with Dana (and the fact that Liddell is fighting Rich Franklin and not Tito), I’d wager that’s exactly what happens. We also get the last quarterfinal matchup with Jamie Yager taking on Josh Bryant — a fight that apparently ends with one competitor making a trip to the hospital in an ambulance.
