Thoughts On: The Ultimate Fighter 11 – Episode 1

*I missed the show last night since I was at Fight Night 21 but that’s why God invented DVR’s.

*Big Chuck Liddell fan, not so big Tito Ortiz fan, looking forward to this season.

*Dana starts this show by saying he doesn’t have a bad feeling towards Tito. And the first lie of the season is out of the way quickly.

*The new and improved UFC Gym looks much better.

*I like the idea of the Wild Card. Gives fighters an extra reason to go out there and fight hard. Of course they shouldn’t need a reason.

*I like the “Never leave it in the hands of the judges” sign above the doors. All great sports teams have some motto so fighters should as well.

*I hate these opening episodes where there’s 500 fights between guys who aren’t established yet and half of them are edited.

*Tito’s shirt says “Punishment Athletics” as opposed to “The Ultimate Fighter”. I give him credit for trying to brand himself and his company.

Middleweight Fight: Jamie Yager vs. Ben Stark

*Jamie Yager has an afro and Dana says he’s cocky. Tito comes back with, “there’s cocky and there’s confidence. Cocky is always good” followed by the biggest smile ever expecting a big laugh. Dana gives him a look of, “shut the fuck up and lie about another injury” prompting Tito to just turn around like a scolded child. I love this season.

*Stark paints his toenails. So he’ll be on Liddell’s team if he wins.

*Holy fuck. Yager threw like three head kicks but they had so much power behind them that even though they were blocked they still dropped Stark and the ref called it off. Dude has mad power in his legs.

*Yager does a cool breakdance after he wins.

Result: Jamie Yager by TKO

*Tito really likes Yager because of his cockiness.

Middleweight Fight: Jordan Smith vs. Brad Tavares

*Jordan Smith says he’s a crazy person trying to act normal. Aren’t we all.

*I guess Jordan Smith wasn’t crazy enough because he got knocked out with a knee followed by a right out.

*Dana said “Good job ref” as Josh Rosenthal stepped in right away.

Result: Brad Tavares by KO

Middleweight Fight: Cleburn Walker vs. Kris McCray

*McCray says he comes from the “DNV” which stands for “Dat’s Northern Virginia”. What a great man. He also says he’s, “tame. but off the chain.” I hope he wins it all.

*McCray hits a beautiful throw and it about to posture up and throw down but Walker taps out, claiming he hurt his shoulder. Lame.

*McCray does a matrix wall run/flip. AWESOME.

Result: Kris McCray by TKO Injury

*McCray keeps saying “Savage” over and over. He’ll get over huge.

Middleweight Fight: Norman Paraisy vs. James Hammortree

*Norman is French and says that people are going to change their opinion on the French after this fight. My opinion on French fighters are that they like to fight dirty, have no ground game, and only beat mediocre fighters. So I guess Norman is cleanly tapping out Anderson Silva in this fight.

*James’ nickname is “The Sledge” so he’s “The Sledge” Hammortree. I need an official name for people who use nicknames to play off their last name.

*Tito keeps yelling, “Elbow”

*James dominated the first round on the ground.

*Norman quit between rounds. My opinion of the French hasn’t changed.

Result: James Hammortree by Other Dude Being a Pussy

*Liddell is pissed that the French guy quit.

*Hammortree is so happy that he give Herb Dean a big hug.

*”Quitting is like tapping to strikes. Wait. I think Tito did that once” says Liddell.

*Dana thinks Norman that Norman should get another job.

*A bunch of fight highlights. I don’t care enough to give full thoughts. This is why I hate the opening shows with a bunch of guys fighting.

*Tito likes Nick Ring who beat some guy. Nick says, “ok” after every sentence.

*Kyle Noke beat the hell out of someone with elbows and cut him open badly.

*Some guy named Court beat some guy named James.

Middleweight Fight: Victor O’Donnell vs. Chris Camozzi

*This fight was heavily edited. They beat the hell out of each other. They went to a third round.

*They continued to beat each other up in the third round. Again. Heavily edited.

Result: Chris Camozzi by Decision

*Victor’s orbital socket got broken in the first round.

Middleweight Fight: Kyacey Uscola vs. Brent Cooper

*Uscola is 18-15 but he says there are a bunch of fights he should have never taken. That’s the good thing about MMA, you’re not completely defined by your record.

*Kyacey knocks him out cold.

Result: Kyacey Uscola by KO

*Another edited fight. Joe Henle was getting dominated but ended up pulling out an armbar in the second round.

*Rich took on Lyle. Rich is a really good wrestler according to Ortiz. So he’ll pick him.

*A guy named Josh beat a guy named Greg.

*Some short guy named Charles beat some other guy.

Middleweight Fight: Charley Lynch vs. Clayton McKinney

*Clayton has half green and half black hair. So at least he stands out.

*These guys are friends. I guess not as good of friends as Fitch and Koscheck.

*Clayton completely destroys the guys nose and then beats him. Really good performance.

Result: Clayton McKinney by TKO

*Clayton says, “I’m sorry I had to shatter your nose.”

*Dana is very excited about this season. Isn’t he always?

*The wraps up this episode.

*The season preview looks good. Seems like Chuck gets pissed a lot at Tito.

Final Thoughts: I hate these premiere shows with a bunch of guys fighting. Hardly any of it is memorable. Some good fights even though most were clipped. This season of fights can’t be any worse than last season.