TUF 17 Ep. 9: Almost Time for Quarter Pounders

With just one fight remaining before the quarterfinal bouts, TUF 17 Ep. 9 delivered a impressive wild card matchup between Team Jones’ Bubba McDaniel and Team Sonnen’s Kevin Casey that set the stage for the next round of action.

The Blow by Blow
Determined in the previous episode, the wild card match pitted Bubba (20-6), a training partner of Jones in Albuquerque, N.M., against Kevin (5-1).

Leading into the fight, Kevin admitted he did not perform in his last moment of pressure, but he also understands that the coaches believe in him.  Because of that, he has one more chance to advance.

Bubba taped a confessional where he acknowledged the difficulty of his lifestyle and the toll it puts on his family -- who remains in Texas while he trains in New Mexico.  It’s not clear if he has an estranged relationship, but he has an eight-year old daughter that regularly asks when Bubba is coming to see her -- which really hurts the tough guy -- but he doesn’t have the money to visit.  Winning TUF could change that, so it’s apparent that Bubba respects his second chance.

Jones and his coaches put in effort to talk up Bubba, and Jones specifically reminded Bubba of the difficulty he gave Jones training in the past.  The champion coach implored Bubba to move forward and attack in the fight -- be the Bubba that gave Jones so much trouble.

And then Bubba confused the heck out of me, as he began discussing his “kids” in the plural.  He only mentioned the eight-year-old before, but there might be multiple ‘lil McDaniels.  Eh, unimportant …

Kevin trained in a helmet to let a cut heal about his left eye, but expressed his desire to come out hard in the fight.

Yeah, like this -- just over the lip.

And then Luke Barnett made his weekly appearance … and O.M.G. … Luke has a horrifying zit above his lip that might be the size of a Silver Dollar on my screen … staring me down in HD … it’s hypnotic … But, seriously producers, I know you love Luke and all, but give the kid a week off when he has a moon-sized zit orbiting his head.

It’s a Celebration, Bitches
The house celebrated Thanksgiving with their coaches around the traditional holiday fare -- to the dismay of a cranky Bubba, who is cutting weight.   Sonnen gave a great speech to the fighters and admitted that he really likes Jones, which is an unsettling prospect for a fighter who normally enjoys hating his opponents and talking some smack.

The Fight
Kevin quickly tossed a hard left hook and the fighters clinched, but Bubba immediately put Kevin on his back and took the advantage.  After working his way to the cage on his back, Kevin climbed up, reversed Bubba to the cage and tripped the taller fighter to the mat.  Kevin maintained the advantage on the mat for a number of minutes, but failed to score any significant strikes.  With 97 seconds remaining, Bubba worked his way up against the fence.  After fighting clinched for nearly 60 seconds, Kevin scored another takedown with 25 seconds on the clock and held the kickboxer down for the remainder of the round.

After a hard kick to right thigh, Bubba clinched with Kevin, to the dismay of his coaches.  The duo exchanged a number of blows dirty boxing against the cage before Bubba pulled Kevin to the mat and took control from the side.  Bubba worked short elbows and punches to Kevin’s head with his opponent trapped against the fence for the remainder of the round, just slowly peppering Kevin with meaningful blows.

The post-fight scene pre-ambulance.

As the bell ended the round, Kevin was slow to get up to his feet.   With the fight going to the third round, Kevin refused to answer the round -- the first time I’ve ever seen such an event.

Bubba then asked Dana White, “Does that count as a finish?”

“Good question -- yeah, we’ll give it to you,” said the big boss man.

After the win, Bubba talks a bit of trash to Team Sonnen, acknowledging he heard someone yell that Bubba was going to break and give up in the first round.

Kevin left the fight in an ambulance as a precaution after feeling faint.

Quarter Pounders
There was some talk early in the episode about who wants who -- and Josh Sammen seems scared of Uriah Hall -- but this is when it matters.  Lord Dana and the coaches called the fighters in one by one to discuss whom they wanted in the quarterfinals (color-coded for ease of use!):

Bubba called out Jimmy or Luke
Jimmy Quinlan requested Bubba
Dylan Andrews wanted Luke
Luke mentioned Bubba and Dylan
Kelvin Gastelum wanted Colin Hart
Colin wanted Uriah
Uriah asked for Josh
Josh called out Jimmy (and pussy footed around a potential matchup with Uriah)

After the fighters come in, the coaches discuss the potential matchups of:

Dylan v. Luke (who wanted each other)
Josh v. Uriah
Jimmy v. Josh
Kelvin v. Bubba (a matchup the coaches want)

But you taketh what Lord Dana giveth, which was:

Fight 1:  Colin v. Kelvin (Kelvin wanted Colin)
Fight 2:  Dylan. V. Luke (a match that both the coaches and fighters wanted)
Fight 3:  Josh v. Jimmy (what Josh wanted and he avoide a matchup with Uriah)
Fight 4:  Uriah v. Bubba (neither wanted each other)

Episode Grade:  A+
I’m sure many would disagree with this assessment, but it was a great episode -- just enough build up, a good fight and the quarterfinal deliberations.  Plus, a surprise matchup between Bubba and Uriah that left both the fighters and fans confused!