Solstice Scriptures: The Ultimate Fighter 10; Heavyweights (ep. 4)
by: Marcus Madison on: 10/12/2009 10:34 am est Dear Scriptures: This episode began with a quick recap the events of last weeks show. The question was asked was this really the end for Kimbo after losing to Nelson. We get a chance to see the more sensitive side of ‘Big Baby’ Marcus Jones. There was discussion of who will compete in the next preliminary fight and who will be the next Ultimate fighter. I applaud the production of the earlier segment of the show. As of now Team Rashad was leading with three victories to none against Team Rampage. It’s clear that Team Rampage has to get on board with a win sooner rather than later. The show started off where the last episode left off post fight with the opinions of the guys commenting on what took place between Kimbo and Nelson. While they were chiming in with their thoughts they were quick to point out that Kimbo couldn’t learn everything in only two weeks of training but applauded his efforts. After the fight Nelson made a comment to Rampage that understandably pissed him off. It showed a sign of cockiness and disrespect to his opponent that Rampage didn’t appreciate. He said something to the affect of ‘thank you for counting because I lost count after twenty with the punches hit Kimbo with’. It was cocky but his performance really wasn’t something to be proud of so to show so much confidence was unwarranted. Team Rampage was very supportive of Kimbo’s performance after the fight and was quick to point out that had he kept the match on Nelson’s feet then the result would have been much different. By watching the fight we can see that Kimbo’s stand up was very good but it’s clear that in order for him to advance in this tournament he will need to improve his overall game. Abe Wagner and Kimbo spoke back at the house about how Slice was feeling after the fight. Abe said that a loss is a lot to cope with and how Kimbo was handling it was different than he had dealt with it. He’s right Abe came across a bit like he was sulking baby himself. While I can understand that losses can be difficult there needs to be some mental strength within the athletes in order to handle losing. Kimbo was quite positive that this is just the beginning for him. This is something that Team Rashad did on a previous episode and that’s mentally prepare their team mates for wins and loses and be able to express themselves to help them deal with the issues that can arise from them. Its really hard to dislike someone that wants to succeed as much as Kimbo does and continues to work as hard as he does. We then get a visual of an exhausted Marcus Jones who is doubled over and looked as though he was sweating bucks. Kimbo approached him asking him what the problem is and at that point not even Jones himself knew. This could be the cause for concern that was hinted in the previews for this particular episode. After a commercial, Jones was sat down with a towel over his head and shoulders to dry him off. Shivers thought that he may have a fever. Thank goodness he isn’t a doctor because if he was sweating that would be a good thing if he had a fever and not the other way around. Brendan Schwab and James McSweeney came into the room and asked what the problem was. Schwab thought that Jones may not be physically be able to meet the conditioning regimen that this competition dictates. At the Team Rashad training session, Evans went through and discussed a number of guys on his team that have yet to fight along with their strengths and weaknesses. He was quick to feel that with each fight each of his protégés it is as though a part of him was out there competing as well. In the locker room the coaches spoke with Justin Wren and told him how they felt that he was a top three in the camp. They want him to face off against Scott Junk. They were confident that he would be the best match up for him during this preliminary round. They explained their rationale to him and he was fine with it. Team Rashad’s coaching staff spoke with Brendan and said they want him to fight with Demico Rogers. The coaches then approached Matt Mitrione and said they wanted him to fight Marcus Jones. Matt said he’ll fight whoever they put in front of him but while the coaches weren’t around he seemed skeptical that he couldn’t handle Jones strength and power. The coaches told him to keep who he is facing to himself. Let’s remember that because that statement became very important later on in the show. Rashad told Matt not to worry and that his chance to compete would come fast and furious. Justin came back to see Rashad and the coaches and told them that he couldn’t fight Scott Junk because he’s was his best friend. Rashad was very understanding of that and therefore a change will be made to accommodate this request by Justin. Team Rampage’s session began and he’s team is desperate for a win. Rampage spoke about Junk’s tenacity, Jones’s strength and Rogers uncanny resemblance to Rashad. Do you see it? I can’t.  Demico Rogers  Rashad Evans Back at the house Justin spoke with Scott and was asked by him if they were going to be fighting each other. A shocked Justin asked him where he heard that Scott said that Matt told him. Junk didn’t hide the fact that he thought Matt was a meathead. He said that because he shouldn’t have divulged that information. Which made sense because why would you give your competition your game plan? That was a very meathead like thing to do. During a meal Justin spoke with Brenden and the rest of his team and said that Matt divulged the fight picks what the fight picks were going to be to the other team. He said that he ‘would jump on a grenade for them’ and Brenden said ‘it looks like you threw the grenade’. That retort by Schwab was met with a chorus of ahhs. The team was light hearted at first about it but guys seemed annoyed by it after a while. John Madsen was quick to point out that Mitrione wasn’t clearly using his head taking away the element of surprise. Mitrioni said that they’ll change it up. McSweeney was agitated by it and just changing it up wasn’t easy. The coaches put thought into who would be facing who which is something Mitrioni didn’t do when he let the cat out of the bag. McSweeney thought there was more behind it was that in fact it was Matt that gave up this information because he didn’t want to fight Marcus Jones. Who thought we would get so much drama amongst a group of grown men before? When Matt confronted Rashad with this news and the coaches couldn’t believe what he did. To say Rashad was stunned would be an understatement. Even Rashad didn’t know what to do next. Brenden spoke about the coaches’ brief discussion of him facing Junk in the first round which would have been a mismatch and didn’t want to risk injury in the first round. Its back to the drawing board for team Rashad with their fight picks. Team Rampage spoke about match ups and tried to figure out who they thought would be pitted against one another. Rashad announced Demico versus Brendan as the next fight. Rampage was very happy with this announcement. He was graphic with what he wanted to do to Rashad. He said he was ashamed of himself but his sarcasm was pretty evident in that comment as well. During the Team Rashad training session they spoke with Brendan about what his assets are and he was quick to say his jab. Rashad said that Schwab’s a great listener and takes direction well. Schwab spoke about Rogers and how good he is but was quick to say he could take him if they were on the ground. However Rashad thought Brendan could take him in a standup by knocking him out. It will be interesting to see where this fight goes because of where both Schwab and his coaches see his strengths being. At the Team Rampage training session the coaches spoke with Demico about their game plan with him. He acknowledged Brendan’s experience but felt his jujitsu and boxing was stronger. Fight day was here and both fighters were getting prepared for their fights and it was a tale of two different stories. It was calm in team Rampage’s locker room and the complete opposite across the hallway. Tteam Rashad’s locker room was doing all it could to get Brendan psyched up for his upcoming fight. Both men came to the ring and while both men had some respect for each other Brendan felt that Demico was in over his head for this fight. The build alone has made this an interesting enough fight but in saying that we need to pay the sponsors so here’s another commercial break. The tale of the tap showed both men were pretty evenly matched with Demico having the slight reach advantage. After Dana went through the details of the fight, the match was quickly underway. Demico had Brendan in a guard and Schwab was trying to hold him off in this position. While waiting on his back Demico was lying in wait for his next chance to get the advantage on Schwab. He lunged onto him and drove in a couple of elbows to the forehead of Schwab. Once the roles were reversed and Schwab managed to get Demico on his back and eventually got him in an anaconda chokehold submission at approximately two minutes of the first round rather quickly. After the fight Team Rashad was there to support Demico something that Rashad thought that Rampage should have been there to do for his team mate. Demico was so disappointed in his performance but Rampage was more concerned about having a meeting with the coaches. While that was important to do that had to come later and offering support to Rogers should have been first. Rampage couldn’t believe he got caught in that anaconda choke. Schwab said he was disappointed with the win but he realized that a win was a win for the team and that he did it injury free. Team Rashad was supportive of one another back in the dressing room and the show of team solidarity appeared to be stronger than ever. Highlights of the next episode showed Mitrioni favoring his shoulder. His team mates seemed skeptical that he’s actually not injured at all since he isn’t confident in fighting Marcus Jones. By the looks of Marcus himself he seems to have enough concerns himself. Team Rashad was shown hazing someone in the house and its probably Matt with how things have been with him recently. Brenden was heard saying ‘he shouldn’t be here’. We don’t know who he is but we can speculate. Rashad called out Rampage’s inability to support his own teammates. A lot more drama in this episode but there are issues on both teams to varying degrees. Let’s see if Team Rampage can put one on the board next week because Team Rashad has a stranglehold in these prelim For the Oratory, Marcus Madison The Truth beyond the Equinox |
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