A recap of the Sell/McCarthy crapfest starts off this episode. No one was surprised by the scores. Everyone agreed that the first round went to Sell, the second to McCarthy, and the sudden victory round went to Sell. This episode features the final first round welterweight battle pitting Matt Serra against Pete “Second Chance” Spratt.
Rich Franklin Needs Something To Do
UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin was added to the coaching staff last week but has yet to contribute much to the fighters’ growth. Gideon Ray offers to give Rich some staph. Well, I guess being bored doesn’t seem so bad now. Rich admits he is in a precarious situation in being a trainer and also the next opponent for the middleweight winner.
Jorge Rivera isn’t pleased that Franklin is in the gym with them. Rich has an injured finger so he can’t spar and he can’t hold pads. The middleweights are starting to suspect Rich is there to scout but Rich suspects he is there to add some drama to the show.
A Quick Toast
Pete Sell drinks to celebrate his win over Charles McCarthy. Basic bumbling drunk stuff here. Matt Serra says Pete is a hard worker and likes to party hard as well. He’ll drink heavy after a fight and recover the next day, then it’s back to work. Pete doesn’t remember some of his drunken night but he didn’t seem to do or say anything he should regret. That’s unfortunate.
Rich Should Stick To Fighting
Rich questions the teams’ desire to train as he notices a lot of lounging on what is supposed to be Cardio Day. Serra is a little annoyed by Rich questioning their team as he hasn’t been there to see all the hard work they have put into training. Serra thinks Rich comes off as cocky. Dana says they shouldn’t bitch about Rich and rather should check their own egos and try to pick the champ’s brain.
Matt is training for his fight with Pete when Rich decides to offer up some advice while watching him train. Matt wants to take the fight to the ground, so Rich tells him to drop to a knee immediately after the glove tap. Matt tells Rich that it’s an interesting thought but actually finds it quite silly. He has no plans to use that tactic during the fight. Rich is starting to wonder what the guys at the house are saying about him. Cut to”¦
Guys Talking About Rich
The middleweights are becoming more sure that Rich is there to learn about the competition. To be fair, Rich is there because Dana White asked him to be there. I’m sure Dana thought this would stir the pot up a bit, knowing Rich can’t do much more than offer advice given his injury, but it’s making Rich out to be a little more conniving than I think he really is.
For the first time all season, Patrick Cote has a speaking role longer than one sentence. He makes fun of the Rich Franklin situation, saying he must be there to give “lemon advice.” That means “bad advice” for those of you that thought Rich was a fruit connoisseur.
Charles asks Rich about the training tip the next day, thinking Rich would laugh about it. Rich doesn’t find any humor in it and seemed genuine in his advice. Charles may have been stirring the pot here but the guys will get him back later.
Captain Miserable Strikes Again
Matt Serra gets on Charles for talking to Rich about the training tip he offered up. Apparently Charles is not a secret keeper and has no future in the mob. Patrick Cote is back for an encore performance, this time doodling a caricature of Captain Miserable with the caption “According to my Calculations: Life Sucks.” Cote then breaks into an impression of Charles moping around and everyone gets a kick out of it.
Charles gets home from the training center and notices the picture on the refrigerator. He’s not very amused by the joke and claims that he’s not really that miserable. He’s actually happy with his life. I guess 15 other people have it all wrong then. Meanwhile, Serra asks Randy Couture about Ric’s advice but The Natural acts like his usual gentlemanly self.
Fighter History
Pete Spratt’s UFC history has already been recapped. To brush up, click here.
Matt Serra trained with Renzo Gracie right out of high school and is considered one of the best jujitsu fighters in the world. He trains his own school of fighters and has a total of eight UFC fights with a record of 4-4. His debut was at UFC 31 against Shonie Carter and lost to a spinning backfist with less than ten seconds left in the fight. Up next was Yves Edwards at UFC 33, a fight Serra won by majority decision.
Serra dropped down to lightweight for his next fight. He faced Kelly Dullanty at UFC 36. Serra won this one by triangle choke. The win was impressive enough to earn Matt a Lightweight Title eliminator at UFC 39 against BJ Penn. Matt lost this fight by unanimous decision. His next fight, at UFC 41, was against the other lightweight eliminator loser and current teammate Din Thomas. Matt chased Din for three rounds and found out he lost the split decision in the locker room after he was announced the winner in the octagon.
Matt returned to the octagon at UFC 46 against Jeff Curran and scored a unanimous decision victory. Another unanimous decision win came against Ivan Menjivar at UFC 48. Serra’s last fight with the UFC was against Karo Parisyan at UFC 53. Serra knocked Karo down with his first punch but was unable to stop the fight. He admittedly ran out of steam and lost the fight by unanimous decision. Matt Serra is psyched to have a shot at the title.
Pete Trains
Remember Matt’s opponent? Pete Spratt is fighting but you’d hardly know it. Pete is antsy and agitated. He wants to impose his will on Matt and stuff his takedown. Mike Burnett has been working with Pete and teaching him some things. Do as he says and not as he does I guess. Mikey thinks it will be a good fight but Din thinks this is the worst possible matchup in the house for Pete Spratt.
Fight Day
Pete is hoping to do more in this fight than in his loss to Chris Lytle. He feels no pressure in this fight because he sees himself as the underdog. Pete’s gameplan is to defend and kickbox while Matt’s gameplan is to take him down and go for the submission. Matt is confident that at some point he will catch him.
Matt Serra vs. Pete Spratt – Round 1
Big John starts us off. Serra rushes towards Pete but Pete avoids the takedown and counters with a nice punch. Serra shoots in again and gets the takedown but not without suffering a brutal knee that cuts Matt under his right eye. Serra has top position but Pete is holding on tight, preventing Matt from doing just about anything.
Serra gets loose from Pete’s grip and moves to side control. Back to a full mount for Serra and the two trade some punches. Matt suddenly explodes and wails with punches to Pete’s face. Pete gives up his back and Matt goes for the choke but quickly gives up on that idea and just rains punches to the back of Pete’s head. Pete does what he can to get out of the predicament but ends up tapping to the punches.
The winner by tapout due to strikes is Matt Serra.
Post Fight
Pete is not disappointed with his performance. He feels he was able to let loose a little more than he did in his previous loss. He didn’t want to go out like he did the first time and feels content losing to the better fighter. Meanwhile, Matt is gushing over his high kick. The Team Mojo welterweights went 4-0 in the first round.
Next Week
Another coach is added to the roster, this time Light Heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. I’m in favor of whatever reunites Liddell and Couture as coaches. Also, Shonie ditches Team Mojo and wants to train with Team No Love. The last middleweight bout of the first round is here as Patrick Cote takes on Jorge Rivera.
As always, head to the forum to chat about the episode or this season of Ultimate Fighter.
