‘TUF 10’ Recap

The second episode of “The Ultimate Fighter 10” saw the Rashad Evans squad go up two wins to none over Quinton Jackson’s team, as well as a teaser for what could be the highest-rated fight in the history of the reality series.

Evans selected Roy Nelson to face Kevin Ferguson, whom Evans called “the big black buck with the greasy beard,” to fight on episode three. Nelson, who has been promoted on the show as a former International Fight League champion, appears to be the toughest test Slice could face at the outset; their bout is being promoted on barker ads as “the biggest fight in the history of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’” The two were sharply contrasted on this latest episode in terms of training. Slice absorbed some special attention from Jackson and Tiki Ghosn; Nelson came off as difficult to coach and prone to rebutting coaches.

UFC President Dana White told the Los Angeles Times that Slice will continue to fight in the UFC regardless of whether he wins or loses the reality show tournament. He said Evans endorsed Slice’s potential and expressed interest in having him travel to his camp under Greg Jackson.

Another Jackson protégé, Cage Rage veteran James McSweeney, won his fight over former Tennessee Titans NFL draft pick Wes Shivers via decision on the latest episode. Shivers had zero professional fights to McSweeney’s seven.

The episode did a 2.2 rating for 2.9 million viewers. It was down from last week’s all-time record 2.9 but still the second most-watched episode in the series’ four-year history.