We're a little more than a week away from finding
out who will ultimately be tough enough in the welterweight
and heavyweight divisions. The Ultimate Fighter 2's
finale will take place Saturday, November 5, live
on Spike TV.
But first there was the aftermath of
last week's fight to deal with. Mike Whitehead, Coach
Hughes' favorite and someone even Dana White had expected
to make it to the finals, had been eliminated by Rashad
Evans. Post-match, Mike confided to some that he might
not be a fighter after all, but later seemed to reconsider
and said he'd regroup and be back, which is good news.
One bad day at the office shouldn't derail his career,
since he truly seemed to have a lot of potential.
It turns out Mike's hard head had left
Rashad with a hand injury. One minute viewers saw
Rashad headed to the ER for an X-ray, and the next
minute he was walking back into the house with his
arm in a sling. He dissolved into tears and the others
gathered around. Between sobs he told them his hand
was broken and he couldn't continue in the competition.
The others tried to console him, then he broke into
laughter. Fooled ya! he said. Very amusing.
The coaches and Dana sat down with each
fighter to see who they'd prefer to face in the semi-finals.
After evaluating their answers, the following semi-final
match-ups were announced:
Welterweights:
- Luke Cummo vs. Sam Morgan
- Jason Von Flue vs. Joe Stevenson
Heavyweights:
- Keith Jardine vs. Rashad Evans
- Brad Imes vs. Seth Petruzelli
No Right Guard Sweat-Stained Challenge
this week, but that doesn't mean there were no product
placement opportunities. The close-ups of containers
of Xyience were far better than close-ups of hairy
underarms, however. Keith, apparently a big fan of
the product, even called it "the food of the
gods." Almost like he was angling for a Liddell-like
deal after the show is over.
Poor Jason. While training with Keith,
he got a deep cut in the middle of his forehead which
required more stitches. His anger at the possibility
of being taken out of the competition as a result
of this cut seemed to cancel out his fear of a needle
and thread. He even made a crack about getting a bed
in the back of the doctor's office since he's been
there so often.
To ensure that there would be enough
fighters to go into the finals, the previously-eliminated
Marcus Davis was brought back as a substitute if Jason
is not medically cleared for his next fight. He even
brought along his lucky kilt (although it wasn't too
lucky for him last time).
This week's fight was Luke Cummo vs.
Sammy Morgan. Luke's entrance gimmick is a Ninja in
skivvies. It looks weird, but then that's been Luke's
real gimmick from the beginning.
It was one of the better fights, and
Luke, fueled by pizza, ice cream, and sea weed, knocked
Sammy out cold to take the win and move on to the
finals.
Sammy's loss brought out a kinder, gentler
side of Coach Hughes. Instead of lighting into his
fighter with a barrage of harsh words about being
a loser, Hughes redeemed himself by comforting Sammy,
who had burst into tears when he regained consciousness
and realized what had happened.
Tune in Monday night at 11:00 p.m. (ET)
to see who else will be going to the finals.
***
Buy
The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 on DVD
