The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback – Episode 11

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This episode features a middleweight semi-final between Travis Lutter and Pete Sell. It’s being hyped as a great fight and given that the season has already been taped, there is no reason to doubt that point. Will it live up to the hype it was given post-taping? I don’t see why it wouldn’t but if you’ve come this far, you might as well read on for the answer.

We get a recap of Shonie Carter vs. Matt Serra from last week to start. They show Shonie’s spinning backfist a few more times and Gideon hypothesizes that Matt would have slit both his wrists if that shot were to knock him out. Matt ended up winning and advances to the finals against Chris Lytle.

Man vs. Wall

Pete Spratt wants to get some football pads and a helmet and run through the wall. You see, most of the fighters are eliminated from the tournament yet are forced to stay in the house and therefore have lost their damn minds. Mikey has tired of Pete’s talk about running through the wall yet has also found himself inspired by it. He finds some swim goggles and figures that’s all the protection he needs. He gives a half-assed opening attempt but claimed it was just to test the durability of the wall. Mikey says he hit a stud on his second attempt and bounced off the wall fairly hard.

On third and long, Mikey goes for the hail mary but finds out he’s up against the Steel Curtain of architectural partitions and is denied once more. It’s fourth and goal and Mikey knows he can kick a field goal to tie but that’s not why he came tonight. He came to win. He lines up for the field goal but IT’S A BAD SNAP! Mikey retrieves the loose ball and makes a charge for the goal line. He tries to leap over the pile but is met with heavy resistance and denied end zone entry. Mikey argues he broke the plane of the goal line but reviews clearly showed he’s just absolutely out of his mind.

TUF 3 Finals

The fighters gather around the television to watch the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 3. They are shown watching the middleweight showdown between Kendall Groves and Ed Herman. They seem really into the fight but how could they not be? That was an exciting contest to watch. I’m sure they were all excited to watch something on TV but Pete Sell in particular claimed to be inspired by the night. He realized he was one fight away from realizing the same dream.

Weigh-In

Pete Sell weighs in at the middleweight limit of 185 lbs while Travis Lutter comes in at 185.5 lbs. Dana admires Pete for picking Travis. As you may remember, Pete and Patrick Cote had become friends and Pete wanted to meet him in the finals. Pete felt Patrick would lose to Travis so he chose Travis for himself since he thought he had a better chance against him than Patrick. All that said, Dana also thinks Pete was stupid to pick Travis. Dana says that everyone knew Travis was the top middleweight and the man to avoid. He thinks Pete should have asked for an easier opponent.

Team Mojo Trains

Pete Sell admits he thought Chuck Liddell would be a lemon coach but says he’s actually one of the best trainers in the world. He’s working on his takedown defense with Chuck. Well, that’s the guy you want to work with if takedown defense is what you need.

Back at the house, Gideon Ray’s patience is wearing thin. I’ll give you one guess as to who is getting under Gideon’s skin. You got it. Captain Miserable Charles McCarthy. Gideon decides to avoid any drama under the pretense that he will be leaving the house in a few days.

WarGames

Reason #137 why Shonie Carter rules: He can throw cards better than you. Carte’s card-throwing gets everyone else antsy and they want to try. They all obviously suck at this. In an attempt to even the odds against Shonie, the guys figure they need different ammo, such as paper plates, poker chips, and fruit. All of a sudden forts are being built and teams are being assigned. It’s WarGames folks!

Rich makes a shield for himself while Mikey steals the show with his huge box helmet. Mikey looks funny in his headgear and it actually serves as a target for the other team. Pete Spratt becomes the weapons expert for his team, launching Twinkies and ice cream at the other team. Someone has to play the role of JJ Dillon and Mikey is the man for the job as he quits, therefore losing WarGames for his squad.

Team No Love Trains

Actually, there is no Team No Love, just Travis Lutter. Din Thomas feels bad for Travis. He says Travis was there for his teammates and now his teammates aren’t there for him. They all decided to sleep in. Din says he feels so bad that he was going to train with him. Travis likes to train with Mark DellaGrotte and Mark enjoys the relationship as well. They are the only two in the training center. No sight of Din. Maybe his alarm didn’t go off.

Fight Day

Travis Lutter gives a boring interview. Imagine your boring, monotone History teacher saying something along the lines of, “Is he better? Am I better? I’m rather confident that I’m better.” Travis then says he cares the least and that he who cares the least gets the win. What the hell is that about? He cares the least so he’ll win? I care the least in just about every endeavor I’m involved in and I am certainly no winner in life.

Pete Sell says that he is ready to fight and ready for a war. He claims he’s no amateur and Travis isn’t going to walk in and win this contest without a fight.

Pete Sell vs. Travis Lutter – Round 1

Awesome, we get to hear Matt Serra’s voice all fight. Hopefully it’s over shortly. I actually like Matt Serra but I cannot stand listening to him overpower everyone else in the room with his accent.

Travis and Pete migrate to the cage and Travis slowly brings Pete down. Travis is on top but he’s mostly jockeying for position. Travis lands some short elbows but he hasn’t made much of an effort to strike. Travis passes to side control and some nice matwork leads to an armbar attempt. Pete gets out of it and Travis is back on top. Travis lands a punch but still offering little in an attempt to strike or submit. Travis cuts Pete over his right eye with some short, chopping elbows. The round ends quickly thereafter.

Round 2

Pete starts the round a little better this time. Travis attempts to close the distance for a takedown but Pete is circling and throwing some heavy punches. Travis finally closes the gap without getting too much damage and rides Pete down. Mr. Lutter is on top and lands some body shots. Travis’ fights are just as boring as his interviews. He gets to his feet and folds Pete up to land a head shot.

Travis gets back down on top of Pete and lands some elbows. Travis goes for an armlock but Pete gets out of it. You know, I’ve never quite understood the grounds for standing up a fight. I guess it depends on the referee and his tendencies but it seems like this fight should have been stood up numerous times already. Anyway, Travis moves to side control and lands a few elbows. Another armbar attempt from Travis closes the round. Travis looks exhausted in his corner. Matt Serra does his best to rally Pete in his corner.

Round 3

Pete throws a hook and Travis shoots. They wind up against the cage. Travis grabs Pete by his ankles and trips him to the mat. It doesn’t look like any of Pete’s work with Chuck Liddell paid off. I don’t think he has stopped one takedown attempt. Travis lands a body, body, head combination. Big John stands them up. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Travis shoots and gets the takedown. Side control by Travis is followed by Pete eating some elbows. Travis hits some knees. Sell tries to create separation but Travis is like a magnet. A boring magnet. The round ends with Pete on his back.

The winner by unanimous decision is Travis Lutter.

Post-Fight

Matt Serra tries to lift Pete’s spirits after the fight. Dana says Pete Sell is still improving and in the future will be a force to be reckoned with. Pete gets choked up and says that he used to make fun of the guys that cried after losses. Now he sees why they were so emotional since he put so much into this tournament yet still came up short.

Next Week

It’s the last episode. Pranks and craziness within the house are at an all-time high. Edwin faces Patrick in the last middleweight fight. Edwin’s cut is opened during practice and he wonders how it will effect his semi-final bout. The winner faces Travis for the middleweight title shot.

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