Ultimate Fighter 10: Episode 7 Recap

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Rashad opens the show clowning on Rampage’s performance in his first loss to Wanderlei Silva in Pride. Rampage jokes on Rashad’s knockout loss against Machida. It’s safe to say these guys won’t be exchanging Christmas cards this year.

Fight Selection

Matt Mitrione vs. Scott Junk is set for tonight.

Junk has UFC experience. Matt Mitrione is coming from the NFL. Dana favors Junk because of the experience. Rashad says Junk is probably the best all-around fighter on Team Rampage.

That leaves Mike Wessel vs. Marcus Jones for the last fight. This might be the first time I’ve seen Mike Wessel on the show aside from when they picked teams. Welcome back, Mike.

The trash talk between Rashad and Rampage continue after fight selections. They are in each other’s face, running their mouths about everything from career records to shoes being put in the other man’s ass. Rashad claims that Rampage quit on his team and things go from “funny trash talk” to “these guys may actually fight each other.” Team Rashad finally intervenes and gets their coach out of the training facility so Team Rampage can practice.

Matt Mitrione tells Scott Junk that Mike was afraid to fight Scott. He claims that was the reason why Mike ended up fighting Marcus, and not Scott. More hatred from Team Rashad flows towards their teammate, Matt Mitrione. Everyone feels like Matt threw Mike under the bus.

Team Rashad seems to be pulling for Junk in his fight against their own teammate, Matt Mitrione. Mitrione says he isn’t crazy, he just has voices and demons in his head. Fighting is the only thing that makes them go away. Well Matt, that sounds crazy to me.

Training Session

Scott plans to throw power shots in the cage and fight with his heart. He wants to dictate the pace against Matt. Scott seems to have a personal dislike for Matt so he’s happy to fight him. It really feels like every member of Team Rampage and Team Rashad are rooting for Junk in this fight.

Matt Mitrione and Jon Madsen also have a personality conflict, and it reaches a boiling point over some orange juice. Jon threatens to slap Matt over some OJ at the house. They end up as sparring partners in training and Matt goes 100% when the coaches are asking for 60%. Jon wants Matt to cool down and Matt explodes. He has the slap comment in the back of his head and he wants to take it to Madsen. The coaches take Matt to the back so he can calm down. Rashad yells at Matt because he wants him to save his aggression for his fight, not sparring with his teammate. Matt is still heated and offended by the fact that Jon wanted to slap him and is having a tough time letting in go during the heat of the moment that he created.

Wes Sims says it’s time for the gi. He transforms into a ninja and hides behind some bushes as he stalks Matt while he plays basketball. Sims has war paint on and is having a fun time pushing Matt’s buttons. He follows Matt to the pool table and then outside to the lounge chairs. Matt isn’t amused by the antics of Wes.

Fight Day

Scott voices his personal animosity towards Matt at the breakfast table. Matt says he is ready to fight because he talked to his wife. Not on the phone, mind you, but in his own head. Yeah, still sounding kinda crazy there, Matt. But I can only imagine the kind of things that would come out of my mouth if I were away from my family and without TV, Internet, and radio while being holed up with 15 other dudes for six weeks. I think that imaginary conversations with my loved ones would make the list.

Matt Mitrione vs. Scott Junk

Round 1

They feel each other out on their feet to start. Matt absorbs a kick and knocks Scott down with a right. Matt lets him back up. Scott comes in and Matt drops him again with a right. Matt mounts but quickly aborts and stands the fight back up. He wants nothing to do with Scott on the ground. Matt catches a kick and drops Scott again with a right. Scott right back up. This fight is super awkward. Scott needs to start respecting Matt’s power because he’s now been dropped four times by Matt. Scott goes for a lazy shot and Matt just steps out of it. Scott looks terrible. He’s swinging wildly. Matt has crazy confidence in his standup right now. Junk is against the cage, taking punches. Matt looks tired but Junk isn’t fairing much better after being beaten all round. They clinch/rest against the cage with one minute to go in the round. Matt is showing no defense whatsoever. His hands are down and he’s open to be hit. Scott throws some big punches to close the round. Matt’s mouth is wide open. Scott lands some nice shots. The first round ends and both guys are exhausted. Dana White is on his feet applauding.

Round 2

They meet in the center and Junk circles to the left. Lazy jabs from Matt are countered by a straight right that lands for Junk. Junk with another overhand right. Both guys are tired. This is what you get with heavyweights, folks. Junk finally gets a takedown and is in Matt’s guard. Scott is exhausted. They are both throwing punches in order to feign that a fight is happening. There is nothing on these punches and Scott is doing nothing to advance his position. The ref stands them up with two minutes left in the round. Matt kicks and Scott lands another right. Matt lands consecutive 1-2 combinations. Scott eats them because he’s too tired to hold his hands up. Matt’s mouth is again, wide open. They break with just under a minute to go to catch their breath. No break was called, they just mutually decided to rest. The round ends with a whimper. The fight is also over, as a third round won’t be needed.

Winner: Matt Mitrione by majority decision 19-19, 20-18, 20-18

Rampage is pissed and does work on the door. He first kicks a hole in the door, then elbows a hole through it. But Rampage doesn’t stop there. He headbutts a hole into the door and then just completely rips the top half of the door off. He rips the rest off the hinges for good measure.

Next Week

Marcus takes on Mike. Rampage and Darrill face off again. Marcus is the last chance for Team Rampage to avoid being swept in the first round. That’s pretty embarrassing when you think about it.