This season's hopefuls were shown arriving at the UFC Training Center, but when they realized there were 32 of them instead of the usual 16, they got their first hint that something was up.
Dana White greeted them, then introduced the two coaches, Forrest Griffin, winner of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the only man to ever knock out Chuck Liddell.
Dana launched into a version of his "f'n fighter" motivational speech, then told them they would all have to fight their way onto the show this season. Sixteen of the hopefuls would be going home within 48 hours.
Dana said he intended to separate the "poseurs" from the serious fighters right from the start this time. Seems he'd had his fill of guys who had thrown away their opportunities because they were love sick or drama queens or any of the other stupid excuses used by so-called fighters who had "pussed out" in prior seasons.
The pairings had already been made by the UFC, and Rampage and Griffin would be evaluating the fighters in order to select their teams.Fight 1: Prince McLean vs. Mike Dolce. Dolce was the more positive of the two. McLean had been on a four-fight losing streak. Dolce won it easily. He'd impressed Rampage, although Jackson didn't think much of his personal hygiene.
Fight 2: Cale Yarbrough vs. John Clark. Clark had had to cut 17 pounds, which Cale thought might give him an advantage. Clark said he was at peace with the knowledge that this might be his last shot at fighting, which it was. Age and weight cutting had taken their toll on Clark, and Cale took the win by TKO.
Fight 3: Steve Byrnes vs. Amir Sadollah. Byrnes was a former Marine with one UFC loss under his belt. He'd gotten the jitters that time, he said. Jackson was pulling for the Marine, but Amir took the win in the second round via submission. He celebrated by jumping up on the top of the cage, then falling off and landing flat on his backside. Whoops!
At this point, highlights of a handful of other matches were shown. Briefly.
Fight 4: David Baggett vs. C.B. Dollaway. C.B. Dolloway took the win.
Fight 5: Danta Rivera vs. John Wood. Dante was the next winner.
Fight 6: Nick Klein vs. Dave Mewborn. Klein won, thinking it would be a good opportunity to get recognition for his gym.
Fight 7: Paul Bradley vs. Reggie Wood. Bradley won.
Dave Roberts was sparring with Rampage, who was his old friend and mentor.Fight 8: Jeremy May vs. Dave Roberts. May won and Rampage said it was the most disappointing fight of the night for him; he'd wanted Roberts to win the whole show. Roberts was also disappointed and felt he may have let Jackson down.
Moving into the TUF House so far are Mike Dolce, Cale Yarbrough, Amir Sadollah, Paul Bradley, Nick Klein, Dante Rivera, C.B. Dolloway, and Jeremy May.
Tune in next week to see the next eight fights and one very wicked knockout.