Episode 10
This week’s episode starts inside the house, and someone has decided to play a prank. The victim, Michael Johnson, whose shirt got soaked as a result of someone tying rubberbands around the sink, was not too pleased at the incident. He immediately blamed Alex Caceres, who denied any wrongdoing. Perhaps somewhat surprising, he was not the culprit.
The cameras move back to the gym where Kyle Watson is working with Georges St. Pierre. After some footage with those two, Josh Koscheck and Aaron Wilkinson are shown working in the cage.
Moments later, the fighters are shown warming up back stage warming up for the contest. Watson heads out to the cage, followed by Wilkinson, who says he is happy to be the underdog.
Kyle Watson vs. Aaron Wilkinson
Round 1: The fighters touch gloves, and Watson comes out with a leg kick. Just a few moments later, he has the takedwon. He’s in half guard, but Wilkinson has him tied up pretty good. Koscheck instructs Wilkinson from the corner, and Watson is looking to pass here. After a long battle, he gets it, but Wilkinson scrambles back to his feet. Watson moves it back to the ground quickly, landing in full mount. He is looking for a bit of ground and pound, but now he opts for the back. Two minutes to go in the fight. Watson is close to locking this choke in, but Wilkinson has his chin tucked. He can’t ward off the choke, however, as Watson slips his arm under Wilkinson’s chin for the finish. Watson d. Willkinson via submission, round 1.
Wilkinson explains he is embarassed, while Watson says he could not have had a better outcome.
Dana White jumps in on the action, saying that the next fight will be Alex Caceres vs. Michael Johnson. He defends Caceres and says that the man nicknamed “Bruce Leeroy” could pull the victory off.
Back in the gym, St. Pierre welcomes Freddie Roach to the gym and is shown working with Jonathan Brookins and Johnson in the cage. Brookins seems to be extra excited to work with Roach, as he should be, and Roach says that Johnson reminds him a bit of Manny Pacquaio. Caceres is the next one to step into the cage with Roach, who says that he likes “Bruce Leeroy’s” chances in his upcoming fight.
A few confessionals are shown, as St. Pierre says that he will not corner either fighter, while Caceres talks about how Johnson wanted to fight him due to emotional reasons and that the pressure is on his opponent. Johnson, howver, says that through constant takedowns he will be able to break Caceres down.
Backstage before the weigh-ins, Koscheck is shown talking trash to Johnson, saying that he has money on Caceres and thinks that Johnson won’t stand with me. The fighters hit the scales and both weigh-in to make it official. They stare down and someone makes a reference to black-on-black crime. Johnson quips that he does not think Caceres is black. Meanwhile, Koscheck continues to attempt to frustrate St. Pierre by saying that one of the fighters has been thrown under the bus.
The fighters then are shown heading in to get their hands wrapped for the fight, and Koscheck says that he will corner Caceres, but it seems to be more of a joke. Instead, Jeff Lentz, the man “Bruce Leeroy” beat, has decided to corner him, but that’s basically because he says no one else wants to.
Alex Caceres vs. Michael Johnson
Round 1: Johnson misses with a leg kick to start, and Caceres lands one. Johnson is pressing the pace and lands a nice couple of shots before slamming “Leeroy” to the mat. He’s in half guard, but Caceres transfers and stands up with a smile on his face. Johnson lunges forward with a few shots, and Caceres’ mouth piece is lodged from his mouth after a solid hook. Johnson presses his opponent up against the cage and gets his second takedown of the bout with more than three minutes left in the opening frame. Caceres is looking to work toward full guard. He works back up to the feet and lands a few nice shots before they move back to the center. Johnson appears to have slowed a bit, while Caceres is looking very fresh. He moves in for a combination, but Johnson quickly clinches and shoots off a solid knee. A bit of a stalemate up against the cage here, but Caceres pushes away with one minute to go. He throws a leg kick, which causes him to fall to the mat, but he is quickly back up. 30 seconds to go, as Johnson clinches up against the cage once again. Kick lands for Caceres when they separate, but Johnson lands a nice flurry before yet another clinch. However, Caceres has Johnson pushed up against the cage as he scores a few knees and elbows before the bell rings. Unfortunately for “Bruce Leeroy”, Johnson surely took that round.
Round 2: The second round starts with a small exchange before Johnson decides he wants it back to the floor. He is in side control and working elbows here and there, while Caceres attempts to work to guard. He gets it, but Johnson pushes his head up against the cage. Caceres attempts to throw a triangle on, but that fails and he works to stand up. He gets up and comes forward with a combination of hooks and kicks, but Johnson does not take any damage. The fight goes back to the ground yet again, and Johnson works toward the back. Caceres reverses and ends up in side control. Unfortunately for him, Johnson explodes up and the two clinch again with two minutes to go. Johnson earns another quick takedown from the clinch, and Caceres needs to figure this out quickly. He is trying to get up and finally does. After nearly being forced down again, Caceres is back up, but another clinch ensues before another takedown for Johnson. He is in side control here and that is how the round ends. It is really hard to see how all three judges don’t give it to Johnson. Johnson d. Caceres via unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18).
Johnson says after the fight that he did underestimate Caceres, while “Bruce Leeroy” says that he just did not do a good job of avoiding the takedowns. Dana White voices his approval of the fight, while Koscheck tells St. Pierre he had good strategy.
White sits down with the two coaches again to determine who will face off in the next round of competition. For the semi-final round, White announces that Nam Phan will take on Michael Johnson, while Kyle Watson will face off against Jonathan Brookins.
St. Pierre says that he believes Johnson will win the fight, while he says the other could go either way. Koscheck thinks differently about the Phan-Johnson outcome, ending his confessional with the simple statement of, “Cheers Georgie”. Only appropriate, I suppose.
Next Week: And then there were four. The semi-finalists hit the cage to determine who will face off in the finale for the title of “The Ultimate Fighter”. Tune in at 10 p.m. ET next week on Spike TV to catch all the action.