LAST WEEK: Jamie Yager throws in the towel against Josh Bryant, causing Tito Ortiz to go ballistic and call Jager all sorts of choice names. Ortiz then throws in the towel against Liddell, prompting Dana White to fire him from the show and bring in Rich Franklin as his replacement coach. The episode ends with a teaser regarding Franklin’s new assistant coaches — and one of them is a former UFC champion.
We’ve got a new intro this week with new coach Rich Franklin. It’s like Tito never existed.
Dana walks Franklin through the UFC gym. It’s been a long time since Rich last coached the show, and he says it’s cool to see how far things have come. Dana and Rich have a discussion about the new treadmills in the gym and how awesome they are.
Rich says that he came to Vegas under the impression that Tito was still going to be involved with coaching, and Rich would just fill in for him on the fight. When he arrived in Vegas, he found out that Tito was completely gone from the show. Dana thanks him for filling in, and then Rich signs the contract to fight Chuck. Well, that was easy.
Team Ort…er…Franklin arrives at the gym to meet their new head coach. Dana tells the team that he wants them to have the best experience they possibly can, and brings in Franklin’s assistant coaches. It’s Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard and Tyson Griffin. Dana introduces them to the team and then leaves.
We see the Spike crew tear Tito’s picture off the wall and replace it with a poster of Franklin. Like I said, it’s like Tito never existed.
I must also note that Forrest Griffin is sporting a supreme mountain-man beard. Forrest rolls with a few of the non-injured guys, and it’s clear that he hasn’t taken the time to learn anybody’s name at this point. Kris is impressed by how quickly Franklin and the coaches jumped in, broke down his style and started preparing him for the semifinal bout. Tyson Griffin says they’re going to taper down McCray’s training because he’s been working out too hard and needs to let his body rest. That’s completely opposite from how Ortiz ran the team, and I’m sure Kyacey Uscola felt vindicated.
It’s time for a Team Liddell training session. John Hackleman is startled by the sudden appearance of the Rich Franklin poster on the wall and wonders how they changed it out so quickly. Chuck says it’s tough to go from fighting a guy he hates to fighting one of the nicest guys in MMA, but that he’ll be ready when it’s time to get up for the fight.
Brad and Court talk about how awkward it will be to fight each other. Hackleman says they didn’t want to separate their training. They don’t have to partner up, but they’re still training in the same group. Yeah, I can imagine that it was awkward. Chuck says it’ll be hard to watch his guys fight each other, but he figured it would come down to this from the beginning.
The house decides that it’s time for revenge on Noke, Yager, McCray and Tavares for being loud, staying up too late and keeping the rest of the house awake. The team assembles quietly with air horns and silly string. They descend into their room and blast the horns while covering them with silly string. Tavares is furious and says they crossed the line, so he grabs a large chess board and drops it over the railing to the first floor. The chess set shatters into little pieces. Tavares heads back to bed while thinking of ways to get back at everybody else for ruining his sleep, despite the fact that he spent weeks keeping everybody else from sleeping at night.
That was the height of depravity for this season of The Ultimate Fighter. Boring, right?
WEIGH-INS
Brad Tavares (185) vs. Court McGee (185.5)
The popular consensus among the fighters is that Tavares is the favorite heading into this fight. Dana says it’s tough to pick a winner, but that he’s never actually picked a winner and wants to do it, so he picks Court McGee. Landmark moment right there.
FIGHT DAY
It’s a little weird seeing Tavares and McGee sitting side by side backstage while getting taped up for the fight. Court says he’s scared of overdosing on heroin but not fighting.
BRAD TAVARES vs. COURT MCGEE
Round 1: Dana says the fight is three five minute rounds. Have the semifinal bouts been changed from two rounds to three? I guess we’ll find out. McGee lands a soft leg kick during a feeling out process. Both guys throw half-hearted punches that miss during the first minute with some leg kicks thrown in for good measure, but they certainly aren’t Jose Aldo leg kicks. Court misses a head kick. They finally get into a serious exchange about 90 seconds into the fight, with Court ending up with a clinch. He’s trying to take Brad down from the side, but Brad isn’t going down. Tavares tries to change his position, though, and Court gets him to the ground and lands in half guard. Brad tries to sit up, Court makes a grab for a guillotine but Tavares gets out. Court’s in full guard now. Tavares gets both feet on McGee’s stomach and pushes him away, leaving himself enough time to get back to his feet. Tavares connects with a right while Court tries to get inside for a clinch. Court leads with a punch to get inside and grabs a clinch, pushing Tavares against the cage. Court lands a solid left and goes back to the clinch. Brad separates. Court whiffs on a right and Brad counters. Court tries for a takedown but Brad gets away cleanly. Court leads with the left to set up the clinch again and gets it. I’m sensing a game plan here, because Court has done the exact same thing three times and it’s worked every time. Court picks Brad up and slams him hard, but Brad gets back to his feet immediately. Court lands a right and works for another takedown as the round ends. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Court McGee.
Round 2: Tavares starts using his jab to keep McGee at bay, hoping to prevent the clinch and takedown. He’s pretty effective with it, too. Court misses a head kick but then lands a jab that snaps Brad’s head back. Court catches a Tavares leg kick and nails him with a clean right hand. Court shoots for a takedown and gets the clinch against the cage. Brad is able to push back to the center of the cage and then break free. Brad misses with three punches, but connects on counters after misses by McGee. Leg kick from Court followed by another solid jab from Brad. Court lands a big right hook. Dana marvels at Brad’s chin. Brad with another right hook, and this one opens a cut on Court’s nose. They clinch, but Brad gets the better and nails Court again as they separate. Tavares is getting comfortable on his feet now. Court catches a body kick and clinches Brad against the cage looking for a takedown, but Brad is able to stay on his feet as the round comes to a close. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Brad Tavares.
Round 3: Looks like we’re getting a regular three round fight, because nobody mentions sudden death. Both guys exchange quickly, but Brad kicks Court in the junk. Court opts to take a breather while Tavares apologizes. They start again after a touching hug. Furious exchange of punches with both guys connecting. Brad lands a left hook that startles Court. McGee tries a takedown but Brad lands a solid uppercut. Tavares has a striking game that is just a level above McGee here. He’s countering everything McGee throws with much crisper and accurate strikes. Court finally gets a clinch against the cage, then lands an uppercut and hook before they separate. Tavares with a good body kick, but Court lands a strong right. Tavares slips on the mat but is able to stay on his feet. Court presses Brad against the cage, where Brad lands a glancing knee. They separate, but Brad apparently gets punched in the groin and needs a quick breather. They start again and both guys land shots. Court lands a leg kick that hurts Tavares, then follows with a solid left. Both fighters land some decent shots, but McGee kicks Tavares in the groin again with about 45 seconds left. This one hurt Tavares pretty bad, and he goes to his hands and knees. Josh Rosenthal tells Court that he’s going to take a point away if it happens again. Brad says he’s ready to go after a few moments. They exchange in the middle of the cage, and Court drops Brad with a left hook that landed flush on the chin. Tavares gets back up, but Brad rocks him again with a right and then slams him to the ground. Tavares rolls to his knees and Court jumps on his back and sinks a deep rear naked choke from the side. Tavares goes to sleep rather than tap out. Court McGee d. Brad Tavares by submission.
Court McGee advances to the finals.
Dana tells Tavares that the fight was awesome and was worthy of being the finale. Tavares says he’s crushed, but he’s going to learn from the loss. The rest of the fighters applaud their efforts.
Dana brings in some U.S. Marines to train with the guys. The Marines put them through their own workouts and then let them spar with pugil sticks. Later, the Marines join the TUF guys back at the house for dinner. Sadly, nobody enlists in the Marines.
Time for a Team Franklin training session. The coaches work with McCray. This will be McCray’s fifth fight in six weeks, which Franklin thinks is crazy. Franklin says the coaches have collectively looked at what McCray does best and are helping him make small changes that will help him greatly in his fight. Franklin says that he doesn’t see the fight going much different than the first Josh/Kris fight, but says that Kris won’t be wasting energy in doing things he doesn’t need to be doing.
Back at the house, Yager and Tavares are conspiring to pull a prank on the rest of the house. Yager takes everybody’s left shoe and puts them outside. Tavares takes beans and rice and throws it on Hammortree and McKinney, who are sunbathing outside. Hammortree starts walking back inside and Yager throws a bag of flour at him. Well, this doesn’t sit kindly with Hammortree, who seeks out Yager upstairs. Hammortree empties a trash can onto Yager’s bed. Yager lies and tells Hammortree he didn’t do it, then empties rice and beans on Hammortree’s bed. Hammortree gets in his face and tells him to get out of his room.
Yager leaves, but not before drawing the ire of Kyacey Uscola. Yager keeps yapping, and Clayton McKinney points out that Yager quit during this fight. Everybody’s tired of Yager’s incessant trash-talk. Yager says he was rocked during the fight and didn’t quit. I wonder if he actually believes this stuff. Kyacey tells Yager to meet him outside.
Kyacey heads outside and waits for Yager, who is peering outside from his upstairs bedroom window and suddenly seems much more hesitant than he was just moments ago. Yager declines to go outside and fight. Kyacey says it’s just another fight that Yager didn’t show up for, and begs the UFC to give him Yager on the TUF Finale. Hammortree can’t find his left shoe and Yager says he doesn’t know what happens, so Hammortree begs the UFC to give him a shot at Yager on the Finale as well. Rich Attonito confronts Yager and says he wants his shoe back, so Yager meekly brings them back inside the house while saying that “everything has gone too far.”
Oh, and McKinney wants Yager on the Finale as well.
Yager says it’s unfair that everybody is pointing the finger at him, completely ignoring the fact that he did, in fact, steal the shoes. He says Dana will probably give him a list of people who want to fight him and he’ll get to pick whoever he wants to for the Finale.
WEIGH-IN
Josh Bryant (186) vs. Kris McCray (186)
Kris says he took the hardest path to where he’s at now. That’s true.
JOSH BRYANT vs. KRIS MCCRAY
Round 1: Kris misses on a takedown attempt and Josh hammers him with a couple of punches, but Kris immediately grabs a clinch and tries for a takedown. I mean, he really wants the takedown. He finally gets it, but Josh gets back to his feet only to get slammed. Josh gets back to his feet again, this time against the cage. Kris gets another slam. Josh works his way back to his feet but Kris keeps the clinch. Kris lands a knee to the midsection and they separate. Kris is breathing heavy. Josh lands a jab. Josh blocks a head kick attempt. Josh lands a hook, but Kris chases him down with a couple of punches. Josh lands a leg kick that hurts Kris. Kris misses with a chasing punch and Josh lands a clean right hook. Kris lands a nice uppercut, but Josh sticks in there and lands two shots of his own. Kris tries for another clinch but doesn’t have the energy to keep it and Josh gets away. Josh gets in a clinch of his own with about a minute left. They separate with 30 seconds left. Kris is very tired now. Both guys exchange wild punches, with Josh landing the cleaner shots. Kris swings for the fences but misses as the round ends. It was close, but Josh landed cleaner shots and Kris couldn’t do anything with the takedowns he got. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Josh Bryant.
Round 2: Kris gets a clinch against the cage and lands a punch to the midsection before they separate. Kris gets in close and lands four or five shots to the midsection followed by a big right, but Josh has an iron chin and returns fire with his own wild punches. Kris gets another clinch, but Josh reverses and looks for a takedown but doesn’t get it. He keeps the clinch, though. Kris with a knee to the midsection. Mazagatti separates them. Both guys land wild punches. Josh tries for a takedown but Kris blocks it. Both guys are exhausted now and they separate. Josh is bleeding badly from the mouth. Josh tries for a takedown but is stopped by the cage. Kris is trying to land knees to the head but can’t quite get them. Kris tries for a takedown but is too tired to get it. Josh follows him with two good connecting shots. The round ends. Another close round, but McCray controlled the action against the cage and it was probably enough to give him the round. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Josh Bryant.
Round 3: Both guys miss on strikes early. Kris tries to get the plum clinch again but can’t secure it. Josh lands three left hooks, but Kris weathers the storm and gets a clinch, pushing Josh against the cage. Josh gets away. Josh lands an uppercut, but Kris lands one of his own. Kris gets something that resembles a takedown, but Josh is back to his feet immediately. Josh lands a huge uppercut, but Kris pushes through it. Neither guy can lift their hands above their waist this point and there’s not much defense. Both guys connect with more wild shots. Kris gets the plum but doesn’t have the energy to knee him and Josh breaks free. Josh gets his own plum but misses the knee and Kris uppercuts him. Kris lands a big left hook, then gets a clinch on Josh’s back. Josh connects with a standing elbow while breaking free, then lands a hook while Kris shoots for a takedown. Kris gets the leg and holds Josh against the cage as the round ends. Yet another close round. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Kris McCray, but this fight could easily go in either direction.
OFFICIAL DECISION: Kris McCray d. Josh Bryant (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
McCray moves on to face Court McGee in the finals. He also sets a record for most fights while in the house.
Franklin says it feels good to have a fighter in the Finale, even if he was only coaching for a week. Dana says McCray came up with a much better game plan than Josh in this fight. Liddell says that Josh should have pressured him more and it cost him. Josh says it sucks to lose to somebody he already beat, and boy, his lip is gigantic and looks disgusting.
And with that, the season comes to a close. McCray and McGee face off on June 19 for the TUF 11 championship.
