Mallory's Recap of The Ultimate Fighter 5 - Episode 1
By Mallory Mahling
The show opened with the competitors arriving at the TUF House. Corey Hill joked that he and Andy Wang ought to bunk together since they are the minorities. As the episode continued, viewers learned that Hill is full of jokes. And other stuff. Dana White said the season was going to be nutty and he wondered if it had anything to do with "little man's complex." He said that coaches B.J. Penn and Jens "Little Evil" Pulver were nutty, too. Bad blood was an understatement when describing the dynamic between the coaches. As they waited at the UFC Training Center for the fighters to arrive, they did their very best to ignore each other. Dana joined them and pointedly said he expected some coaching from them. (He must have been having a flashback to Ken Shamrock and his grueling regimen of cartoon watching for his team.) The sixteen fighters were evaluated separately by Penn and Pulver. Pulver got to put them through their paces first and they were completely worn out by the time Penn's turn came. Of course, B.J. wondered if it had been a ploy by Pulver so that Penn could not get a full evaluation. And he was probably right. It was time to pick teams, and Dana flipped a coin. Pulver won and chose to pick the first fight. That meant Penn got to pick the first fighter for his team. Sounds simple, right? Well, not with these two Instead of picking a single fighter as Dana had asked him to, Penn asked those who wanted to be on his team--and wanted nothing to do with Pulver's team--to raise their hands. Ten of the fighters did just that. That aggravated Pulver and it was apparent that the tactic had gotten under his skin, but he played along with it. Dana tried to put a stop to it and asked Penn to pick ONE fighter for his team. And once again, Penn wanted to pick eight of the fighters who had their hands up. Dana's patience was wearing thin as he tried to get a word in, finally resorting to one of his favorite words: Shut the f**k up, he shouted until he'd restored order. Eventually the teams were picked. Team Penn: Gray Maynard Matt Wiman Gabe Ruediger Joe Lauzon Robert Emerson Andy Wang Allen Berube Noah Thomas Team Pulver: Corey Hill Nate Diaz Brandon Melendez Brandon Sims Manuel Gamburyan Cole Miller Brian Geraghty Wayne Weems They headed back to the TUF House and personalities had changed now that teams had been chosen. Corey Hill is already on my last nerve with his antics. He barks. Team Penn got an early start the next morning, and Penn and his assistant coaches didn't seem to care that the guys were not used to such early hours. Ruediger was considerably overweight for the lightweight division. In fact, he weighed more than a welterweight and was very disappointed in himself that the more he tried to diet, the more weight he was gaining. (I hope we won't find he had a secret stash of Snickers bars in his gym bag.) Team Pulver trained next and strategized about who to pick for the first fight. Ruediger was 22 pounds overweight and feared he'd be picked for the first fight. He ended up crying in front of his team and hoped no one on Pulver's team had seen it. Emerson thought that weight loss was a girl problem, not a guy problem. Mr. Sensitivity. It was time for the fight announcement, and Dana said they would have to win three fights in order to make it to the finals. This week's fight would be Cole Miller of Team Pulver and Allen Berube of Team Penn. That meant Ruediger was off the hook for the time being. Cole, a rather obnoxious trash talker, said he didn't think Berube was taking his opportunity seriously enough. Berube acknowledged he was not as experienced as some of the others. He'd originally started fighting in Florida to get publicity for his business (he owns two Monstah Lobstah restaurants in the Tampa area) and the next thing he knew he was in Las Vegas trying out for the show. The fight was set for two 5 minute rounds with Big John McCarthy as the referee. Berube gave it his best shot, but Miller won by triangle choke submission. Penn was satisfied that Berube had given it the 100 percent he had to give. As he headed home, Berube said he'd made a rookie mistake. He wasn't beaten up, but his heart felt beat up. Next week: Team Penn turns on each other and Manny "loses his mind" * * * Here are brief bios of the Ultimate Fighter hopefuls: - Joe Lauzon. I'm looking forward to the dymanic between Lauzon and Pulver, since it was 22-year-old Lauzon who knocked Pulver out last October and put a monkey wrench in the big plans for Pulver's return to UFC. It just goes to show ya that these matches are not predetermined. His victory over Pulver notwithstanding, Lauzon is eager to learn from the TUF coaches and housemates. - Nate Diaz. Nate is the brother of the always charming Nick Diaz. Just kidding. He's 21 years old and trains at the Caesar Gracie Academy in Stockton, California. - Andy Wang. Wang, 29, is the high school social studies teacher. He also has a Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu, which probably keeps his students on their best behavior. - Gabe "Godzilla" Ruediger. Ruediger, age 29, got his nickname in Japan as a result of a tattoo he sports. He trains at Team Quest South in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and has a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. - Allen "Monstah" Berube. Berube, 32, is from Maine and a big fan of lobsters apparently (one of his nicknames is the "Crustacean Sensation"). He owns two "Monstah Lobstah" restaurants in the Tampa area, where he trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the Gracie facility. - Robert Emerson. Emerson, 25, is from Newport Beach, California. He enrolled in karate at age 10 and took up wrestling in high school. - Manuel Gamburyan. Manuel is the cousin of Karo Parisyan and trains at the Hayastan Academy in North Hollywood. Judo is his specialty and he is known as the "Pitbull" for his intensity he brings to his fights. - Brian Geraghty. This 26-year-oldl is from Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he took up MMA in high school. He is looking forward to working with the coaches and is eager to make the most of his opportunity on the show. - Corey Hill. Admirably, Hill, 28, counts his parents among his role models. Family is important to him, and he has a wife and two young children waiting at home for him. Wrestling and striking are his strengths, and jiu jitsu will be his focus on The Ultimate Fighter. - Gray "The Bully" Maynard. Maynard is 27 years old and trains with Team Couture in Las Vegas. He was a stand-out wrestler at Michigan State" and previously trained with B.J. Penn who was preparing for a fight and sought out Maynard's wrestling expertise. "The Bully" nickname comes from his bull terrier. - Brandon "The Murderer" Melendez. He doesn’t look like a murderer, but apparently he looked like one to an announcer on a Salt Lake TV station that aired his matches. Melendez is 23 years old and trains at Elite Performance with Jeremy Horn. - Cole "Magrinho" Miller. "Magrinho" is Portuguese for skinny, but don't let the nickname fool you. Miller trains with the American Top Team and has an impressive 19-3 MMA record. - Marlon Sims. Sims is 33 and trains at the Freestyle Fighting Academy in Miami, although he is a native of Sonoma, California, and trained with Frank Shamrock at the Napa Lion's Den. - Noah Thomas. Thomas is a former Marine who trains in Loveland, Colorado, with Infinity Martial Arts. His MMA record is 10-4. He has received a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from Royce Gracie. He does impressions of Matt Serra and Ross Pointon. Wonder how his impressions will be received in the TUF House? - Wayne Weems. At age 24, Weems had a harder road than most growing up. He discovered MMA at 21 and it quickly became his passion. He trains with Team Miletich. - Matt "Handsome" Wiman. Wiman is 23 and trains with the Tulsa Top Team. He got the "Handsome" nickname from his mother when he was a child. He made his UFC debut last May, but was beaten by Spencer Fisher.
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