The Ultimate Fighter 4, Episode 1: Welcome Back

In a move that probably surprised no one, UFC announced that Ortiz/Shamrock III would take place on October 10. What might surprise people is that the fight will not be on PPV, rather the main event on a SpikeTV Ultimate Fight Night. In the press release, the UFC as much as admitted that the fight was a make-good for the unsatisfying early stoppage at UFC61.

I admire the UFC for this. They could have put the fight on PPV and made millions, but they chose to make it up to the fans that shelled out their hard-earned money and left disappointed. What did I think of the fight? It was an early stoppage, but at the time, I thought it would have been over inside of five more seconds anyway. I do think it shouldn’t have been stopped that quickly, because Shamrock is nothing if not resilient, and has taken much worse beatings and come out swinging. So the “protecting his health” excuse doesn’t hold. If they’re afraid for his health, don’t let him fight. The athletic commission cleared him, let ‘im fight.

Secondly, I don’t know how I missed Chris “Lights Out” Lytle’s nickname. It’s OK, because every single person who read the article seemed to know it.

On Ultimate Fight Night, Josh Koscheck dominated Jonathan Goulet in 4:10 of the first by TKO. TUF3 coach Dean Lister outlasted Yuki Sasaki, winning 30-27 on all three scorecards. Lister was incredibly impressive for two rounds but gassed at the end. TUF1’s Chris Leben caught Jorge Santiago with a hard left and knocked him out in the second round. They showed the Jason von Flue (TUF2) vs. Joe Riggs match taped earlier, which Riggs won easily by submission.

In the main event, for a shot at Matt Hughes’ middleweight belt, TUF1 winner Diego Sanchez put on an absolute clinic, taking Karo Parisyan with a unanimous decision. This was an incredible fight and well worth taking time to see on one of the million replays Spike will air this weekend. The entire card was top-notch.

Enough of the undercard, it’s time for The Ultimate Fighter 4!

As the white van expels its cargo of fighters, Dana White (as Dana White) explains the concept. If you’re new here, check out my preview article for details and introductions to each fighter. Shonie Carter (who enters the training center dressed like a pimp) says we shouldn’t call it a comeback, as he’s been around for years. He says something about money and bitches, but I’ve already started tuning him out.

Matt Serra says that they’ve been fighting for years and suddenly these newbies from past seasons are getting all the glory and recognition. He wants in. Dana says that the question isn’t whether they have what it takes to fight, it’s whether they have what it takes to keep fighting and become champ. That’s deep, man.

This season, there will be teams. However, both teams will get the change to train with all three coaches: Randy Couture, Georges St. Pierre, and Randy Dellagrotti (I’m pretty sure I spelled that wrong), along with some specialists. Bring back Saul!

There are two boxes, octagonal boxes, naturally, one for each weight class. Each fighter will put their hand in and pull out a jersey, either blue or grey. We don’t get to see the picks, but Dana helpfully runs down the teams.

Grey team welterweights are Matt Serra, Shonie Carter (so we won’t get a rematch of the spinning back fist knockout that I’ve seen clips of about forty times already), Chris “Lights Out” Lytle, and Din Thomas. The grey middleweights are Patrick Cote, Edwin Dewees, Pete Sell (who is trained in “real life” by teammate Matt Serra!), and Scott Smith.

The blue team welterweights (who are tough too, according to Dana) are Rich Clementi, Mikey Burnett, Jeremy Jackson, and Pete Spratt. And the blue team middleweights consist of Charles McCarthy, Gideon Ray, Jorge Rivera, and Travis Lutter.

They are told to figure out their own training schedule, as this is their show. They’re not going to lead them around like they have past seasons, which will no doubt eliminate some of the “Who are they to tell me what to do?” mentality I wondered about.

Shonie thinks the grey team is the strongest, with the most experience. He’s wearing skin tight shorts. Yay. Matt reminds us that Shonie put him out in his first UFC fight, and he thought about getting payback. But they’re professionals, and just happy to be where they are. He’s going to make the most of it. In training, Shonie tries the spinning back fist, which Matt dodges. Heh.

Chris “Lights Out” Lytle says that Matt (who is very short, by the way, which is apropos of nothing and I mention it because it looks very odd) has a lot of energy and makes time go by quickly. They look to be well on their way to becoming friends. We see lots of training footage, which is fascinating.

On the blue team, Rich Clementi (whose right eye seems damaged and gives him a “crazy eye” look like the guy in My Name Is Earl) thinks everyone on his team is a tough bastard. He’s glad Mikey Burnett is on his team. Mikey says that people ask him why he hasn’t fought since 1999. He says he doesn’t want to do anything half-assed, and you can’t go through a divorce or alcoholism and fight in the UFC. He’s honored to be on the show. He’s through with the past and wants to create a future.

It’s time for the coin toss to see who gets to choose the first fight. Whoever wins the coin toss wins initial control, and gets to choose the participants in the first fight. Thereafter, the winner of the fight gets to choose the next fight. The teams have also been named – the grey team is Team Mojo, the blue team is Team No Love. The blue team wins the coin toss, they get to choose the first match, which will be welterweights.

Training for the grey team (I’ll start using the names when they do) is going well. Matt tells us that there are no egos involved. Din points out that Matt has been the team leader. I like Matt – he fits right into the trainer mold because it looks like he enjoys helping the guys. Shonie says training has been rough. It’s not age, it’s that back home he’s used to being the lead horse. Now, he’s on an all-star team and he can’t keep up. He’s shown struggling in training and the team is all cheering him on. Teamwork? Friendship? What kind of reality show is this? Shonie becomes the “first man on the Technicolor wall” this season, and claims it’s the first time he’s ever thrown up in training.

Chris “Lights Out” Lytle says it scared everyone, wondering if he just wasn’t in shape or if something else was going on. Din is sure they’re going after Shonie first, and wonders if he’ll be ready.

Time to select the fight. Again, the blue team won the toss if you’ve forgotten in the past five minutes. The first fight will be Rich Clementi (blue) vs. Shonie Carter (grey). Rich thinks Shonie’s style is awkward and his skills don’t measure up. Shonie says they can underestimate him all they want.