The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback – Episode 10

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Matt Serra gets his man tonight as he steps into the octagon with Shonie Carter, the only man to knock him out in a fight. It is the most anticipated fight of the season so far and one of the only episodes I’ve been looking forward to in an otherwise dull season.

We start with a recap of Chris Lytle advancing to the Finals with a win over Din Thomas. The highlights show all the stand-up, which was entertaining, but leave out the near 12 minutes of nothing that went down on the ground. And that’s why they are called highlights.

Matt Serra and Shonie Carter weigh-in and both make the 170 pound limit. Matt Hughes thinks Shonie Carter is the best welterweight in the house and can’t figure out why everyone else thinks he is the worst. Dana White says that this fight means everything to Serra and it has the makings to be a great fight since Shonie won’t back down.

Marc Laimon Has A Fight

Trainer Marc Laimon has already rubbed some people the wrong way this season. The fighters don’t think he cares about training but Marc says no one is approaching him for advice. Color me disinterested. Matt Hughes is a dick so he instigates a battle between Laimon and Matt Serra. He wants to see them roll but Serra sees what Hughes is trying to do. Serra jokingly says he is not Matt’s pet monkey. We’ll see about that if Serra wins the title shot. Laimon says he will spar with anyone but Serra just brushes it off.

After Serra leaves the mat, Laimon talks to Hughes about his fight with Royce Gracie. Laimon again trashes Gracie and Serra overhears it. Serra isn’t so friendly this time in dealing with Laimon while Matt Hughes smiles like a dick in the background. Serra thinks that Laimon should show more respect to Gracie, especially since Laimon isn’t a fighter himself. Laimon is entitled to his opinion, but it rubs the fighters the wrong way when he acts cocky without taking the risk of getting into the octagon. Matt Serra busts out the new quote of the season when he tells Marc Laimon, “You’re like an expert swimmer that never got in the pool.”

Team No Love Shows Love

After being annoyed by Shonie Carte’s antics throughout the season, Team No Love has come around. Perhaps it’s because only one of them is still fighting and they have nothing else to entertain themselves. It’s amazing how seven losses changes a team’s attitude. Rich Clementi and Jorge Rivera come up with the Phony Carter Show to mock Shonie but I see it more as a tribute to a great man.

Jorge comes into the training center wearing a clown nose, clown wig, and Shonie’s trademark speedos. He will be playing the role of Phony Carter while Mikey Burnett is wearing a gi and playing the role of Mikey Serra. They re-enact the Carter/Serra fight, culminating in the infamous spinning backfist. Shonie Carter isn’t shown watching the show which makes it weird. Why go through all that trouble and not have the man of the hour there to appreciate his tribute?

Shonie is shown some love from Rich Clementi, who agrees to work with Shonie and corner him in his fight with Matt. Rich sees it as a compliment and is happy to help. Shonie believes his KO over Serra gives him a psychological advantage and he wants to come forward on Matt.

Pre-Fight

Serra says he is ten times the fighter he was when he lost to Shonie. Serra is expecting Shonie to attempt a backfist at some point in the fight. Shonie knocked him out the first time, now Matt wants to return the favor and put Shonie away. Shonie and Matt have a nice little moment of reflection at the house before their fight. They talk about six years passing since their first fight and then share a yearning for ice cream.

Shonie cuts a really good professional wrestling promo. He then confirms it was indeed a wrestling promo by capping it off with “Whatcha gonna do when you have a pink and blue polka dot 45 magnum pointed at you?”

Shonie Carter vs. Matt Serra – Round 1

Matt Serra lands a nice right hook and follows with a takedown. Serra goes to work with a flurry of punches to Shonie, mostly from Shonie’s back. Shonie gets up and Serra lands a leg kick before landing in a clinch. Serra throws some knees but Shonie is having none of that and flips Serra down to the mat for the takedown. Serra gets right back up, however. They clinch once again and Serra trips Shonie down. Serra is landing some shots. It’s interesting that Matt isn’t going for any submissions when he has Shonie down. He seems confident that he can win with his striking.

Shonie Carter fights back to his feet but they are still in the clinch. They migrate against the cage where Serra lands some knees before they break apart. One minute remains in the round. Carter kicks and catches an off-balance Serra. Carter attempts a left kick but it is caught by Serra which leads into A BACKFIST! Shonie wobbled Matt with that shot and gets a takedown. The round ends to save Serra from what could have been a dangerous spot.

The fighters are unsure who won that round. Serra looked good early but Shonie may have stolen it with the last thirty seconds. The Meezy calls me after the round to inform me that Shonie did in fact steal the round and he scores it 10-9 Carter.

Round 2

Right kick by Shonie starts off the second round. Serra misses with a big hook but his momentum carries into Shonie and they both go down. They scramble back to their feet and land in a clinch. Serra tries to trip Shonie down but Shonie is doing a good job of blocking it. Serra lets out a Monica Seles grunt and finally gets Shonie down. Matt’s corner wants Serra to throw some short elbows. Matt replies, “I will.” All of a sudden he’s Floyd Mayweather Jr?

Matt Serra controls from the ground. He’s taking those short shots and then gets Shonie’s back. Shonie gets up to his feet but Serra brings him back down. Carter scrambles back up to his feet with one minute left in the round. They try to catch their breath to get ready for another late-round rally. They get into the clinch and Serra says “I got him.” Shonie punches Matt right in the face after he uttered those words. Matt lands a leaping front kick to close the round.

The Meezy calls me again and informs me that Serra dominated that round. 10-9 Serra on Meezy’s scorecard. The fighters’ consensus seems to be that the winner of round three will win the fight.

Round 3

The fighters pace themselves until Big John calls for time to fix Shonie’s underwear. It’s actually more like shoelaces around his waist but Big John is still having none of it. The fight is restarted. Shonie needs to do more than just react to Matt’s offense. His counter-attacks aren’t winning this fight for him and he doesn’t seem to have much a fight strategy.

Matt and Shonie do a single-leg scramble but no one goes down. Shonie connects on a left kick but Matt is able to catch it on the way back. Serra grabs Shonie from behind. Shonie spins around but is run into the cage. Serra grunts and gets another takedown. He lands a couple of shots and floats over to Shonie’s back. They get back up to their feet and Serra gets a belly-to-back takedown.

Shonie’s conditioning was in question early in this season but he’s shown he’s in good shape by continuously getting up from these predicaments. Many other fighters, on this season even, would just lay there to finish the round if in the same spot. Carter gets up from Serra’s takedown and they are in a clinch. Shonie just won’t stay down. One minute left in the round. Serra goes for a takedown from the clinch but Shonie lands on top. His corner implores him to let his hands go. Serra gets back up to his feet and they stay in the clinch trading shots until the horn.

The winner by unanimous decision is Matt Serra.

Post-Fight

Shonie congratulates Serra after the fight and shows his respect to Chris Lytle as well. Serra asks Shonie if he wants to get a drink later and Shonie says not just one drink, he will be drinking in multiplicity. They talk about a trilogy and I have no problem with that. It was a very good fight with a lot of grappling action. The welterweight finals are set as Matt Serra takes on Chris Lytle live from Las Vegas on November 11.

Next Week

Mikey Burnett is going crazy. He seems to be playing football in the house with some of the guys but has a vendetta with the wall. He won’t stop until he destroys it. Travis Lutter fights Pete Sell to determine the first middleweight finalist. Lutter has been training by himself because the rest of his team has no desire to train at full speed. Pete Sell is working with Chuck Liddell for the fight.

As always, head to the forum to chat about the episode or this season of Ultimate Fighter.