Sherdog.com’s Guide to the Ultimate Fighter
Scott Holmes Nov 3, 2006
So here we are: the final regular season episode of The Ultimate
Fighter. I had crowed before about my idea of having UFC
veterans return to make another run for Octagon glory. I just knew
that this would be brilliant. Zuffa heard my cries and made it
happen.
Only now I can honestly say that it might have been a mistake.
My thoughts came about since all these "nobodies" were getting an
easy shot in the UFC by cashing in on a reality show. I figured
your average UFC fighter had scratched and clawed his way to the
top, only to see no-names get free training in Vegas and marquee
match-ups.
My grand scheme for a veteran show turned out OK enough, but it lacked the spark that earlier season's had. It's not that the idea wasn't sound. It was. But I definitely underestimated the previous TUF casts and now several of them are winners that are getting big fights they truly deserve. Maybe it's because I'm biased since the vet's show don't really give me much to write about, but I really feel like I should admit to the fact that the new blood isn't as bad as I thought and the old blood makes for crappy television.
The closest thing to a true pariah on TUF 4 was Charles McCarthy (Pictures) and in the last episode we get some more “Chainsaw.” Apparently he's been quite the buzz-kill the past few weeks and his team is sick of him. He also likes to eat everyone's food and whine about everything else. Tonight we are treated to a special montage of Charles eating and eating and eating.
In the end, despite being mocked by his teammates for his gluttony, he enjoys a mayonnaise sandwich. Now here's the thing, I like mayo. Lots of people don't and I can understand that. However, I'll never be caught eating a mayo sandwich. I don't care if the Depression hits again and we are all chasing wild rabbits into barbwire fencing and eating bowls of Oklahoma dust: I ain't eating a mayo sandwich.
It bothered me; it made me lose focus and I couldn't see Charles objectively. So naturally I laughed later as some of the guys placed a bucket of water over a door and laughed while just about everyone fell victim of having it fall on them when they opened the door.
One by one they all went down until Charles was tricked into it. Of course only he takes it seriously. He shoves the cameraman into the wall while trying to figure out who hit him with the water. The look on his face was without a doubt the funniest moment of the season — and believe me, I know how lame that sounds.
Oh also, since this is the last episode before the finale, there was one fight left. Only Edwin Dewees (Pictures) and Patrick Cote (Pictures) are left on the dance card. Edwin and Patrick have been training partners since the beginning so Edwin chooses to jump teams for training to give the men space. Both want to fight each other in the same fashion they dispatched previous opponents on the show, by using their strengths. Edwin wants to go to the ground and Cote wants to stand and swat it out.
As each man prepares, Burnett gets a call from the UFC doctor back at the house. It seems he won't be cleared to fight again until he has surgery on his neck. I have a friend going into back surgery tomorrow. He's 29. Between knees, the back and the neck we are all pretty much headed towards disaster.
I was just reading in National Geographic this year about how humans deal with knee, back and neck stress due to the fact that we have gone from quadrupeds to bi-pedal and only using two legs to walk. Our evolutionary progress has some setbacks alongside it you see and … oh you didn't want to get into a “Scopes Monkey” trial? OK, well anyway, Mikey could be looking at getting screwed out of more UFC fight time thanks to the injury and that just sucks.
So we are at like 9:22 p.m. in Texas now. What does that mean to you? Well, that means I've seen a grand total of like 11 minutes of show without commercials. Not much to talk about other than the fight itself so let's get to it.
Round one and both men come out swinging. It's mostly air they hit but the pace is fast until Dewees ties up and pushes Cote back into the fence. Dewees is methodical, biding time while working for underhooks. Once there he just pulls Cote down on him and into his half-guard. Cote is very strong and is able to posture up and deliver strikes while Edwin thinks of what to try next.
Cote thinks better of the scenario, stands back up and forces Edwin to do the same. Edwin listens as his teammate Burnett chides him to keep his hands up. Cote is using erratic but effective feints to keep Edwin and his shots at a distance. Cote lands a quick uppercut that drops Edwin for a moment but he seems to be OK. They clinch and Edwin misses wide with a high knee. Cote backs out and then throws a hard overhand right, causing Edwin to duck. Cote counters with a hard left uppercut that puts Edwin on his back for a second.
Dewees has a takedown foiled and ends up on his back while Cote uses his power to smother Edwin with small punches and elbows until the round ends.
Round two and both men come out with more punch and kick combos. Neither do much damage until Cote catches one of Edwin's kicks and puts him on his back and once again he's in the half-guard. Cote stands back up and makes Edwin do the same. For the next few minutes Cote is in complete control, as he seems to have sapped some of Edwin's energy. Edwin is moving slowly and plodding his way into exchanges where he's met with some very fast hands.
In particular, Cote throws a lethal uppercut, body shot, and high kick and Edwin seems to be really slowing down. Next up, a left hook to the head followed by a right hook, left uppercut and left hook puts Edwin down.
Cote tries to jump on the opportunity and starts raining down punches while Edwin looks to be in real danger. He's able to absorb all the flurries and a solid Kimura crank to withstand the round.
It’s the last round to see who will head to the finals with Lutter and once again Cote stifles a slow Dewees double-leg takedown. Cote’s in half-guard where he can impose his strength and this time he spends the majority of the round with his right shoulder grinding into Edwin's face. Referee Steve Mazzagatti chooses to ignore the stalling and lets the fight continue. So Cote is able to hold on tight for his unanimous decision win.
In the finals of TUF: The Comeback we have Chris Lytle (Pictures) and Matt Serra (Pictures) in the 170-pound division and Travis Lutter (Pictures) versus Patrick Cote (Pictures) for the middleweights.
Both match-ups are a bit sexier than I thought they would be. Cote and Lutter could be a borefest, but then again so could Lytle and Serra. Not that anyone asked me or cares, but I'm going to make some picks and say Lytle and Lutter will get some contracts next Saturday. Lytle has cost me so much money in the past that I never bet against him and Lutter will probably benefit from a match-up of styles.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to go pack for my weekend of NASCAR.
Yeah, you read that right.
Only now I can honestly say that it might have been a mistake.
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My grand scheme for a veteran show turned out OK enough, but it lacked the spark that earlier season's had. It's not that the idea wasn't sound. It was. But I definitely underestimated the previous TUF casts and now several of them are winners that are getting big fights they truly deserve. Maybe it's because I'm biased since the vet's show don't really give me much to write about, but I really feel like I should admit to the fact that the new blood isn't as bad as I thought and the old blood makes for crappy television.
I really thought that I wanted to have some TUF contestants that
understood what decorum was. No not really. What I really want is
people throwing pee-filled balloons at each other. It's the beast
of television — it demands more and more. I mean guys like Shonie
and Mikey Burnett were
definitely entertaining, but there wasn't any venom behind their
antics like earlier contestants.
The closest thing to a true pariah on TUF 4 was Charles McCarthy (Pictures) and in the last episode we get some more “Chainsaw.” Apparently he's been quite the buzz-kill the past few weeks and his team is sick of him. He also likes to eat everyone's food and whine about everything else. Tonight we are treated to a special montage of Charles eating and eating and eating.
In the end, despite being mocked by his teammates for his gluttony, he enjoys a mayonnaise sandwich. Now here's the thing, I like mayo. Lots of people don't and I can understand that. However, I'll never be caught eating a mayo sandwich. I don't care if the Depression hits again and we are all chasing wild rabbits into barbwire fencing and eating bowls of Oklahoma dust: I ain't eating a mayo sandwich.
It bothered me; it made me lose focus and I couldn't see Charles objectively. So naturally I laughed later as some of the guys placed a bucket of water over a door and laughed while just about everyone fell victim of having it fall on them when they opened the door.
One by one they all went down until Charles was tricked into it. Of course only he takes it seriously. He shoves the cameraman into the wall while trying to figure out who hit him with the water. The look on his face was without a doubt the funniest moment of the season — and believe me, I know how lame that sounds.
Oh also, since this is the last episode before the finale, there was one fight left. Only Edwin Dewees (Pictures) and Patrick Cote (Pictures) are left on the dance card. Edwin and Patrick have been training partners since the beginning so Edwin chooses to jump teams for training to give the men space. Both want to fight each other in the same fashion they dispatched previous opponents on the show, by using their strengths. Edwin wants to go to the ground and Cote wants to stand and swat it out.
As each man prepares, Burnett gets a call from the UFC doctor back at the house. It seems he won't be cleared to fight again until he has surgery on his neck. I have a friend going into back surgery tomorrow. He's 29. Between knees, the back and the neck we are all pretty much headed towards disaster.
I was just reading in National Geographic this year about how humans deal with knee, back and neck stress due to the fact that we have gone from quadrupeds to bi-pedal and only using two legs to walk. Our evolutionary progress has some setbacks alongside it you see and … oh you didn't want to get into a “Scopes Monkey” trial? OK, well anyway, Mikey could be looking at getting screwed out of more UFC fight time thanks to the injury and that just sucks.
So we are at like 9:22 p.m. in Texas now. What does that mean to you? Well, that means I've seen a grand total of like 11 minutes of show without commercials. Not much to talk about other than the fight itself so let's get to it.
Round one and both men come out swinging. It's mostly air they hit but the pace is fast until Dewees ties up and pushes Cote back into the fence. Dewees is methodical, biding time while working for underhooks. Once there he just pulls Cote down on him and into his half-guard. Cote is very strong and is able to posture up and deliver strikes while Edwin thinks of what to try next.
Cote thinks better of the scenario, stands back up and forces Edwin to do the same. Edwin listens as his teammate Burnett chides him to keep his hands up. Cote is using erratic but effective feints to keep Edwin and his shots at a distance. Cote lands a quick uppercut that drops Edwin for a moment but he seems to be OK. They clinch and Edwin misses wide with a high knee. Cote backs out and then throws a hard overhand right, causing Edwin to duck. Cote counters with a hard left uppercut that puts Edwin on his back for a second.
Dewees has a takedown foiled and ends up on his back while Cote uses his power to smother Edwin with small punches and elbows until the round ends.
Round two and both men come out with more punch and kick combos. Neither do much damage until Cote catches one of Edwin's kicks and puts him on his back and once again he's in the half-guard. Cote stands back up and makes Edwin do the same. For the next few minutes Cote is in complete control, as he seems to have sapped some of Edwin's energy. Edwin is moving slowly and plodding his way into exchanges where he's met with some very fast hands.
In particular, Cote throws a lethal uppercut, body shot, and high kick and Edwin seems to be really slowing down. Next up, a left hook to the head followed by a right hook, left uppercut and left hook puts Edwin down.
Cote tries to jump on the opportunity and starts raining down punches while Edwin looks to be in real danger. He's able to absorb all the flurries and a solid Kimura crank to withstand the round.
It’s the last round to see who will head to the finals with Lutter and once again Cote stifles a slow Dewees double-leg takedown. Cote’s in half-guard where he can impose his strength and this time he spends the majority of the round with his right shoulder grinding into Edwin's face. Referee Steve Mazzagatti chooses to ignore the stalling and lets the fight continue. So Cote is able to hold on tight for his unanimous decision win.
In the finals of TUF: The Comeback we have Chris Lytle (Pictures) and Matt Serra (Pictures) in the 170-pound division and Travis Lutter (Pictures) versus Patrick Cote (Pictures) for the middleweights.
Both match-ups are a bit sexier than I thought they would be. Cote and Lutter could be a borefest, but then again so could Lytle and Serra. Not that anyone asked me or cares, but I'm going to make some picks and say Lytle and Lutter will get some contracts next Saturday. Lytle has cost me so much money in the past that I never bet against him and Lutter will probably benefit from a match-up of styles.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to go pack for my weekend of NASCAR.
Yeah, you read that right.
