The Ultimate Fighter 4, Episode 4: "A Speech is A-Brewin'!"

Some quick notes, taken as usual from the excellent Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Stephan Bonnar failed his post-fight drug test after his UFC62 rematch loss with Forrest Griffin. Now, the commission always takes two samples just in case there is an error, and I have yet to hear the results from the second sample, but the second test almost always mirrors the first. Bonnar tested positive for a type of steroid, which is very odd. Steroids are exceedingly easy to flush from your system, especially when you know the test is coming. With this setback combined with his latest losses, one has to wonder if he has much of a future in UFC.

Remember how I said that they could get Gomer Pyle to fight in the undercard of Ortiz/Shamrock 3 on 10/10? Well, they’ve done the next best thing. Ortiz protégé and TUF3 favorite Matt Hamill will face Seth Petruzelli on the aforementioned SpikeTV show. Petruzelli is a UFC newcomer, a karate and wrestling expert with a 7-2 MMA record, winning his last six fights. Make no mistake, I’m sure Petruzelli is a great fighter, but this is nothing more than an exhibition for Matt.

As usual at the start of the episode, we get a recap of last week’s fight. As the fight lasted 23 milliseconds the recap is pretty quick. Matt calls it the smartest fight Chris could have fought.

Chris says he felt the pressure to keep the matchmaking ball in their court. Matt says they’re getting matchups that favor his team, and it’s showing. Patrick Cote wants to fight next.

Back at the house, Team No Love discuss who will be picked to the next fight. Everyone is relatively sure it’s Cote, but Mikey Burnett has his doubts. Travis Lutter thinks he will be picked to fight, as does Charles McCarthy. They all claim to be ready for him. Chris Lytle thinks No Love is in serious trouble.

No Love tries to get the matchup from Mojo’s Pete Sell, including some trash talk from the normally quiet Travis. Pete gets a little offended and decides that he wants to fight Travis.

Scott Smith notices a rash under his arm, and tells the rest of the team. Pete has noticed a similar rash on his foot, so they decide to go to the emergency room and check it out. With the outbreak of hepatitis and staph in pro sports lately (including in WWE), it’s definitely a concern.

Dana tells us that they are diagnosed with staph, a highly contagious skin infection. It’s definitely a problem when you’ve got two people in close contact like wrestling and MMA. WWE’s Bob Holly was infected in his elbow and very nearly died earlier this year. It’s nothing to sneeze at. As Randy Couture says, it’s a breeding ground for staph, ringworm, that sort of thing.

Indeed, at the training facility, Matt Serra is upset that the mats have not been cleaned. I don’t blame him, they should be cleaned after every session, much less after hearing of a staph outbreak! Dana, who looks slightly panicked, says they think someone showed up with an infection and now they’re doing the best they can to contain it.

Matt and Pete talk. You may recall that Pete has trained under Matt for quite a few years. Matt thinks Charles McCarthy is the best fight for Pete, but Matt says that Pete tends to take things personally, and as mentioned earlier, wants to fight Travis. It seems to end with Pete deferring to Matt.

Jeremy tells Din that he lived in his car for a while, sleeping in his trunk. Yeek. He says he’ll go in a cycle – he’ll win a big fight and have some money, and then a girl will throw him out once the money is gone. I can think of alternative points of view to that story, but I’ll keep it to myself. He says his life has been a rollercoaster, and Din tells him straight up that there’s probably something he can do about it. Jeremy says being here is just a dream. It’s going to change his life and he’s going to stay on top.

Georges takes the guys over to the YMCA to have a good meal and do whatever they feel. Actually, they go for a bit of a change of pace, to go swimming and maybe play basketball. Jeremy is happy to see someone other than the fighters, and strikes up a conversation with a lifeguard. He draws a map to the house and tells her to meet him “in the back” at midnight, he says, just to save someone else to talk to. He was tired of talking to nothing but dudes. I’m beginning to see Jeremy’s problem.

At midnight, everyone was at the firepit. Jeremy complains that the guys are never around the fire at night. One by one, they go in, and Jeremy jumps the fence into the wooded area. I guess he forgot about all the cameras.

The next morning, the guys apply product placement to their underarms as they prepare for training. Pete takes the call, and tells the others that no one is to leave for training, they are to wait in the house for further instructions. Jeremy knows something is up. Matt tells Jeremy that it looks like someone crapped in his cereal. Jeremy tells him that “something happened” last night. We don’t see details, but it spreads around the house that someone snuck out and hooked up with a lifeguard.

You can literally see the wheels turn in Matt’s head as he puts two and two together, and he tells Jeremy to keep it in his pants. “Can’t you just write a poem about her and see her in four weeks?” I like Matt more and more every week, and I hope he wins. Someone mentions that Dana is coming over and Matt says, “A speech is a-brewin’ buddy!” Heh. Din is worried.

Dana shows up, walking along the sidewalk with Randy Couture slightly behind and to his left, like hired muscle. It’s an intimidating sight, I would think. The other guys scramble to get as far away from Jeremy as possible as Matt discusses possible, shall we say, painful repercussions.

Dana tells them that he knows that sometimes, they lose sight of the opportunity and focus more on what you can’t have. They’re all veterans, and he doesn’t have to worry about if they want it or not. And then he lowers the respect bomb – they respect the fighters and he asks for respect in return. Uh oh. He doesn’t think some of them understand the opportunity they’re getting. He appears to suddenly get tired of talking, points at Jeremy, and says, “pack your bags, you’re going home,” and stomps away. Ouch.