Sorry for the lateness of this recap. It's been a busy week and work, what with it being Halloween. I'm hoping to have this week's episode recapped and up in the next couple of days.
For once, this episode of The Ultimate Fighter focuses on the guys who are going to brawl, building up not so much a feud, as an expose of their respective stories and the convergence of two men on similar paths.
First we have Darrill Schoonover (Team Rashad), who we first saw being made fun of by Rampage for his "titties." That trend continues this episode to a ridiculous degree. I think I have heard the word "titties" more times in the last hour than in the whole of my entire life before now. Eventually, Darrill has had enough and starts to talk back, boiling over when he essentially tells Rampage that he's going to sodomize him. Obviously this doesn't go over well and the two nearly come to blows. It was like a regular episode but with Darrill being subbed out for Darrill.
Also adding to Darrill's "depth" was the first five minutes, where he is presented as something of an alkie. The coaches talk to him about it, and life goes on. One last thing of note, Darrill, in a drunken stupour, apparently decided at some point in his life that it would be a fantastic idea to get an outline tattoo of a clown cutting out a girl's eyes. No wonder Rashad describes him as "weird... like serial killer weird."
On the other side of the octagon is going to be Zak Jensen. Zak, as mentioned in last episode's recap, is the alleged weak link of the show. He hasn't shown any kind of promise, including getting choked out during training last week. The abuse that he is taking from his peers is also escalating. Wes Sims starts taking bets on which day Zak is going to snap and start killing his housemates. Kimbo gives Zak the nickname "Linderman" and says that he is like Shrek's little brother. I don't think anyone in the world except him knows what this means. Abe Wagner's commentary on the situation goes to a more literary and less... well, stupid, place when he compares Zak to Piggy from Lord Of The Flies. It's up to you to decide if you feel bad for Zak or not. The ribbing they put him through is oftentimes quite funny, but it does turn into a 15-on-1 situation. He tries to take it well, but you can only take so much abuse before you become miserable.
During the pre-fight training, Zak get cut open above his right eye. Literally the second Kimbo sees the blood, his arms shoot into the air and he gets ferociously excited. Pirahnas don't get this happy about blood. While the coaches speculate about Zak's ability to to fight, he reassures them that "it's just blood" and that he won't let it affect him during the fight if the cut opens back up. We are then shown a sparring match between Zak and Marcus Jones, where Zak gets the better of Marcus with his takedowns, implying that Zak has apparently been super-powered by his cut and is now, all of a sudden, just as good as everyone else.
In the locker rooms before the fight, the coaches again show their different styles. To begin with, Rampage and one of his coaches draw nipples into the "OO" part of Schoonover's name plate and write "Titties" underneath it. As Rashad pumps Darrill up, filling him with motivation and inspiration, Rampage just continues to make fun of Darrill's chest. He says things like "You wouldn't want to lose to a guy with titties, would you? I'd never lose to a guy with titties." I don't know if Rampage is just excited about saying the word or just really wants to nuzzle up to Darrill's bosom, but this fixation on one physical attribute does absolutely nothing to help anyone and pisses off the audience (aka: me).
As the fighters walk down to the cage, Darrill looks like an absolute monster. He storms into the cage with a hideous expression on his face. Once the bell goes, they go off on each other. At first they exchange strikes, and it seems fairly even. Then, Darrill grabs the clinch and throws about a half dozen knees into Zak's face. Once Zak breaks away, Darrill starts unloading with a fury of punches with a speed that I would have guessed impossible for a guy with titties. Damn you, Quinton Jackson! Anyway, Zak understands that he's in trouble and shoots for the takedown, eventually dripping Darrill up. The second they hit the ground, however, Darrill locks in a triangle. Zak starts throwing wicked hammerfists to try and break it up, but just keeps sinking further and further into the hold, eventually passing out. The fight goes to Darrill, but Zak ends up saving a lot of face by doing better than everyone expected him to.
It was nice to have an episode focus entirely on the two guys who are fighting rather than on developing characters before the big switcheroo when the fights are announced. The only real other thing of note that happened this episode is the caricature painting that one of Rampage's assistant coaches has done. Everyone from Team Rashad (nicknamed "Team Cocky") is ridiculed in cartoon form. The most notable portrait on the piece is of Darrill, who is drawn, quite accurately (at least facially), with, you guessed it, a big pair of titties. Unfortunately for Rampage, Team Rashad seems to quite enjoy the gift, with people asking for copies. He then promises better pranks in the future.
I can't think of anyway to wrap this up aside from ranting about how much I'm hating on Rampage. And the word "titties." It doesn't even sound like a word anymore I've heard it so much.
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