TUF 9: The British Pound

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With thoughts of MMA fame and fortune on their minds, Team United Kingdom entered season nine of “The Ultimate Fighter” with lofty goals and high hopes to garner success in mixed martial arts.

However, the goals were not as lofty, nor the hopes as a high as the odds stacked against Britain’s team, as they were set to face the favored Team USA in a battle of nations.

“Coming off of the show, we’re hearing from quite a few people that the Americans thought they were going to walk through us, and the British just weren’t up to standard,” stated James Wilks during Thursday’s Teleconference.

With the season nearly in the books, it now seems the standard set was not an American one.

Team UK fought through the entire season as a solid unite, growing stronger and stronger with each day they spent together. However, the Americans appeared to struggle against simply fighting one another, with the word “Team” clearly becoming an unfit descriptor for the United States squad.

As Team USA grew farther apart, Team UK grew closer together, appreciating the opportunity to grow as fighters with their follow countrymen. Perhaps no one learned more from his respective team than UK lightweight finalist Ross Pearson.

“What I learned from the show was how to be a professional athlete,” explained Pearson during the June 18 Teleconference. “Training with Mike and all the guys on the show, I learned how to be a professional fighter, how to dedicate myself, and how to train properly.”

Pearson’s opponent in the season finale, Andre Winner, also took something away from his time with Team UK.

“I learned a couple new skills that I value,” stated Winner in the Teleconference. “Overall I just felt like I was sharper. I just became sharper more consistently.”

While Team UK seemed to mesh great together from the start of the season, their functionality as a group transferred over to training sessions, as the majority of British fighters seemed better prepared than their opponents before entering bouts, along with several of them showing vast improvement from fight to fight.

Both Winner and Pearson will attest to the attributes gained from their time with the rest of Team UK, along with the improvements resulting from their training with Michael Bisping and the rest of Team UK. With three of the four final spots belonging to British fighters, it would be hard to argue with them.

While Team UK was a strong unit when it came to fight preparation, the same strength and friendship was shown during their time away from the mats, as all could see in the most recent episode of “The Ultimate Fighter”, which featured the Brits enjoying one another’s company over a couple of drinks, along with engaging in a minor food fight and a late night swim.

The Americans were a different story.

While Team UK got off to a great start, it seemed the Americans had a tougher time making friends with one another. After a tumultuous first episode, things continued to spiral downwards for Team USA. With the Americans losing fight after fight and their inability to have conversation without raised voices, it was clear that Team UK was the only team on the show.

The Brits were molded into a single unit from the very beginning of season nine of “The Ultimate Fighter”, growing stronger every week in which an episode aired on Spike TV. With great chemistry and team unity, Team UK managed to upset the Americans and show that the British could hold their own in the octagon.

The teamwork displayed by Team UK was more than enough to overcome the manpower of Team USA, setting the standard for how a team should be on “The Ultimate Fighter”

Now Team UK enters the season finale with two of its own, Andre Winner and Ross Pearson, set to fight in a lightweight bout for the title of “The Ultimate Fighter”, while Frank Wilks will take on the lone American finalist and early favorite DaMarques Johnson in a welterweight bout.

With three of the four finalists hailing from the United Kingdom, Team UK exits this season of “The Ultimate Fighter” having accomplished a great task. Coming together from the start of the season, the British bunch have managed to defeat the odds presented before them by coming together as a team and conquering the American opposition both outside and inside the octagon.