This episode of "The Ultimate Fighter
2" ended with a stunning victory that quite literally
left Coach Hughes speechless. And not in a good way.
But the show began with a much different
side of Coach Hughes. He was actually pleased with
one of his teammates and quite happy that Luke had
won the last match so decisively. He noted that he'd
gotten stuck with Luke and hadn't picked him, but
he'd been a welcome addition to his team.
Luke had something to say about Coach
Hughes, too--that if he was a normal human being he'd
have given his team take a break from the strenuous
training as a reward for winning. But no. Hughes was
still cracking the whip, with Mike Whitehead, the
teacher's pet, leading the workout. In a bit of foreshadowing,
Whitehead was stressing the importance of mental toughness.
Meanwhile, Hardcore Hughes was rolling
with Brad and gave him a knee to the head which opened
up a cut that required stitches. Way to go, Matt.
In an odd twist, Coach Franklin was
lecturing his team about safety precautions. The product
placement for Xyience in this segment was pretty obvious,
but at least it was tolerable to watch. Watching guys
put on deoderant has kind of an ick factor.
Luke, who'd been so careful about his
dietary intake while training for his fight, went
on a binge of epic proportions. It was root beer,
pizza and ice cream bars 24/7. His constant gobbling
made me wonder if the next reality show he would appear
on would be "The Biggest Loser." Luke said
he intended to keep eating until he went into a food
coma and was later shown sound asleep with a smile
on his face. Yes, Luke with an expression on his face.
That had to be a first.
One of the funniest moments this week
came when Luke stopped stuffing his face for a minute
and described his gluttony as "better than sex
with a fat woman." The look Jason gave him was
priceless.
This week's Right Guard Sweat-Stained
Challenge was a four-way tug of war which Team Hughes
easily won. They selected Mike Whitehead to face off
with Rashad Evans "for an easy win." This
was Rashad's second fight, although there are still
housemates that we've yet to see in action. Rashad
was not pleased with the implication, and rightly
so.
The first round saw Mike try to take
Rashad to the mat several times, but Rashad kept popping
back up. It tired Mike and seemed to demoralize him.
The second round was more of the same,
with Rashad feeding off the energy that was hemorrhaging
from Mike.
Coach Hughes was in Mike's corner, becoming
more exasperated by the minute. Going into the third
round, the pressure mounted as Hughes berated Mike
and even threw his water bottle at the side of the
cage, splashing water everywhere.
By the end of the last round, Mike had
all but handed Rashad the win on a silver platter.
Coach Hughes, usually quite vocal, was
dumbfounded by what had happened.
Dana White shook his head in disbelief.
And in the end, Mike, Matt Hughes' favorite,
had managed to give new meaning to "the walk
of shame." Sure everybody has a bad day at work,
but not with millions of people watching and a reputation
on the line.
Next week someone will return to the
TUF house and get a second chance to shine in the
octagon. It's probably safe to say it won't be one
of the whiny crybabies who bailed out early in the
season.
Tune into Spike TV Monday night at 11:00
p.m. (ET) to find out who may get to take the walk
of fame instead of another walk of shame.
***
Buy
The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 on DVD
