TUF 9 Episode 2 Review

his week was pretty disappointing. I mean within the first 15 minutes one dude passes out, another has herpes on his forehead (WTF!?), and another guy can't make weight. What is going on here, guys?

Dana seemed pretty bummed out about the situation, and I don't blame him. We didn't see any of this in the U.K. episode.

Dana was right to be worried though because the U.K. fighters really brought it last week and this was not the kind of start he was hoping for from the U.S. squad.

Fortunately this week I could understand everyone (I did miss the subtitles under guys speaking English though).

However, I was a little confused as to why Mike Bisping wasn't there. If Dan Henderson got to scope out his fighters, wouldn't you want to do the same?

In any case Bisping wasn't there to spice things up, which was too bad because this episode sure could've used some spice. Due to the two fighters getting cut before the fights even started, there were only six fights this episode. Let's break them down:



Mark Miller beat Kevin Knabjian by TKO in the second round.

Miller put a pretty good beating on his buddy and training partner Knabjian. Knabjian looked like the last place he wanted to be was fighting his friend in that cage.

Knabjian was visibly upset that his own partner denied him his chance at the UFC. Hopefully this didn't ruin their friendship. Miller had really good stand up. It will be interesting to see if he has any ground skills.



Richie Whitson beat Paul Bird by RNC in the first round.

Bird was a little too hardcore for his own good. He wanted to "fight to the death" and he let it all hang out in the first two minutes of the fight.

Unfortunately for Bird, Whitson survived and after landing some good shots got Bird to the ground. Bird was gassed and had no answer for the Shaun White ringer. Whitson is a tough scrappy kid who trains under Henderson at Team Quest in Temecula.

I'm not sure exactly where Whitson's strengths lie yet but he's an interesting prospect to keep an eye on.



Santino DeFranco beat Waylon Lowe by RNC in the second round.

This fight was the first of two great come backs in the show. DeFranco, who amazingly overcame a brain aneurysm to come back after trying out for season two, got pounded on the whole first round by Lowe.

It looked so bad for DeFranco you weren't sure he'd answer the bell for the second round. He did and everything fell into place. He landed a vicious knee that rocked Lowe and DeFranco finished him off with the RNC for the amazing come back victory.

DeFranco is going to have to have a much better showing than that to get anywhere on the show though.



Jason Pierce beat Steve Berger by unanimous decision.

This was so boring they went to the highlights. Nothing exciting happened except that the guy who fainted pulled off the win.

I'll need to watch Pierce's next fight to see if he's a threat.



Cameron Dollar beat Tom Hayden by RNC in the second round.

This was the other major come back in the show. Hayden pounded on Dollar for two rounds until Hayden lost his position (sloppy) and gave up his back to Dollar who wasted no time getting the submission for the win.

Dollar is going to have to show a lot better form than that to make it anywhere in this competition.



Demarques Johnson beat Ray Elbe by TKO in the first round.

If this fight was a Muay Thai fight Elbe might've had a chance. Unfortunately for him it was an MMA fight.

Johnson ruthlessly out maneuvered Elbe landing some serious shots until he finally landed some good combinations dropping Elbe. Johnson went on to pound him out quickly after that.

Kyle Reid and Jason Dent still have to fight their way into the house next week. The match ups next week are Reid v. Frank Lester and Dent v. Rob Browning...yes, THAT Browning.

Junie's little brother fights next week as an injury replacement and is looking to make a name for himself on TUF just like his older brother.

To be honest I wasn't thrilled with anyone on the US team so far. I think guys like Miller, Whitson, and Johnson have potential but none of them thrilled me based on the competition they faced. It will be interesting to see what happens in the two fights next week.

In terms of entertainment value there was very little this week. However, as always I bring you my quote of the week. This time it comes from Mr. White himself: "You can't blame Rob for the sins of Junie." Oh really!? Did anyone else just get a premonition that there will soon be a glitch in the matrix? (for all non-nerds that means deja vu)

If Browning makes it to the house I think it's going to be deja vu all over again (to use a Yogi-ism). That's it for this week folks. Stay tuned for my Strikeforce review and preview as well as my epsiode three recap next week. Until then,

Soccer kicks and head stomps...