The Ultimate Fighter 4, Episode 8: Teamwork?

The big news this week, of course, is the upcoming Ortiz/Shamrock III on Tuesday on Spike TV. No training injuries or other major events that I’ve heard of, so hopefully the whole thing will go off without a hitch. An interesting note is that Tito is a -1000 favorite in this bout, which means in order to win $100, you would have to put down a $1000 bet on Tito to win. I think the only reason the line is even up is quick-buck fools betting on the underdog Shamrock. There’s a reason why those sports books make tons of money, folks.

Leading up to the fight, Spike will pretty much be airing all-UFC-all-the-time, so if you’ve missed anything lately, just turn on the channel in the next day or so.

The main events for the next three PPVs have been finalized. What’s interesting is that supposedly, the winners of these two matches will face the two winners of TUF4. Of course, UFC64 on October 14 is headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Anderson Silva. Announced recently was UFC65 on November 18, Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre, his original opponent at UFC63 before St. Pierre was injured in training. This matchup has been penciled in for a while, but Zuffa waited until after the PPV to make sure Hughes wasn’t injured.

Speaking of waiting, the December 30th UFC66 main event has been signed. Chuck Liddell will defend his title against Tito Ortiz. They have not announced this match because they don’t want to overshadow Tuesday’s fight with Shamrock, and also as a hedge against injury. If Ortiz is injured on Tuesday, they may be in trouble, although a fluke win by Shamrock could set up an interesting situation – a title shot for the ultimate underdog? This one will probably be announced at Saturday's PPV.

Also, UFC57 is FINALLY out on DVD, except it’s only available through the UFC website. I read an article about the UFC’s distribution problems (and, as I recall, they lost a lawsuit over royalties) so it seems like the reason that UFC events haven’t surfaced on DVD has more to do with worrying about losing a financial windfall in royalties (especially considering we’re talking Liddell/Couture 3 here) and less to do with incompetence by their DVD division. I can only assume that their unwieldy distribution contract only covers distribution through stores.

Finally, on the subject of DVDs, if you’re looking for some UFC DVD’s at a great price, try your local Blockbuster. I’ve been to a few branches and they all (the ones in St. Louis, anyway) have had a number of DVDs in their pre-viewed sale bins for $9.99 each. What’s more, they have been running a sale on used DVDs, 4 for $20. UFC DVDs for $5 a pop? Can’t beat that.

Previously, for some reason they highlight Shonie Carter and his past relationship with Matt Serra, as well as his annoying the others. That was odd.

As always, we recap last episode’s fight between Matt and Pete Spratt. Gideon is surprised that Matt’s legs could reach high enough to kick Pete in the jaw. Edwin notes that Matt got the takedown, and once that happens, it’s over.

Back at the house, Shonie says that all four grey team welterweights have won their matchups, so they will be facing each other in the semis. Thus, he decides to start working out with the blue team. Jorge isn’t cool with that, since some of them (in other words, Jorge) would be fighting his teammates. Shonie doesn’t care, saying he never knew this was a team sport. Well, in a way it is, as most fighters train on a team and come to the octagon supported by their teams.

Shonie tells the blue team in general and Jorge in particular that he doesn’t care what they think. He warns Jorge in an interview that he’s tiptoeing in dangerous territory and playing with the devil, and when you do that, you better feed him with a long-handled spoon. That’s an awesome quote.

Shonie trains with the blue team, although it appears that he’s keeping pretty much to himself. Rich Clementi thinks that the grey team should have stepped in and stopped it, thus, they’re going to stick around and watch the grey team train. Boy, it’s a good thing they trusted these guys to be mature enough not to need coaches, huh?

In the grey team van, they talk smack about Shonie. Matt points out that Shonie needed them to get past Rich, which Shonie admitted to in the first episode. Matt sees it as a betrayal and will take care of him once they get to the gym.

Matt gets the opinion of the blue team, and he agrees that it’s not right. He confronts Shonie and Shonie is very defensive, saying he just did it the one time. Matt thinks they’re seeing Shonie’s true colors, and he’s not happy about it.

That night, Shonie sleeps while the others meet around the firepit. No word on whether a lifeguard awaits in the woods. Jorge complains about Shonie, mentioning that Shonie said “f*** the grey team, and f*** the blue team.” Matt is not very happy about that and is done defending him. He wants to fight Shonie in the semis.

In training, George St. Pierre mentions that he and Patrick train together. He’s happy to be able to help Patrick in his fight. He told Patrick to put the pressure on Jorge and make him back up. Okay, all the complaining they did about Shonie and Rich “spying” and no one ever mentioned Georges?

On the other side of the fence, Mark DellaGrotte has been training Jorge for years. He says Jorge has made a lot of progress. He’s going to fight southpaw and beat him in the clinch. Mark thinks Jorge is more well-rounded, even though Cote is a better slugger.

The teams gather, where Dana mentions that some of them apparently thought Rich Franklin was a jerk. Hopefully they won’t think that of the next coach – “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell. He’ll be there for the next week.