The Ultimate Fighter: Liddell vs. Ortiz Episode 6 Recap

Last week, Team Ortiz was dealt yet another blow, as Kris McCray lost to Josh Bryant in a fight where both fighters looked visibly gassed for the majority of the proceedings.  Now, let’s see what happens this week, as it looks that Ortiz may have a mutiny on his hands, with fighters speculating that his conditioning program may be doing more harm than good.

And sure enough, we open with Kyacey Uscola telling Ortiz that he is not a fan of the training that they have been doing, particularly when there is a fight a day or two away.  Uscola thinks the fighters should be resting for the few days before a fight, and Ortiz doesn’t seem to agree.  He’s seen talking to a camera with what appears to be a ghastly attempt at a moustache, and he has no doubts about his conditioning regimen.  He says a “Team Punishment” member will ultimately win the show, even if his team wins less fights than Liddell’s.

After the break, it’s DODGEBALL TIME!  Up for grabs is $10,000 for the winning coach, as well as $1,000 for each team member.  I always wondered about that.  These coaches already have plenty of money; why not give the fighters a bigger cut?  Oh, and “bragging rights” are also on the line, so there’s that.

The coaches are all participating, but in the first of three scheduled games, Ortiz’s coaches let him down.  He is the only one left against Liddell and two of Chuck’s coaches.  Predictably, he gets picked off in the 3-on-1 finish, though he argues that the ball didn’t touch him.  He does not, however, inform the viewing audience that a bulging disc or bad knee kept him from dodging the ball successfully.

In the second game, it ends up coming down to Liddell and Ortiz, and Liddell nails Ortiz with a shot to the legs.  Ortiz barely even moved to try to dodge the throw.  Finally, even though Liddell has already won the best-of-three series, they go ahead with the third game anyway, which Liddell wins again after it comes down to him and his rival in the end.

Liddell celebrates pretty excitedly, even hitting his famous victory pose.  For his part, Ortiz says, “it’s just dodgeball.  The next time I’ll be hitting Chuck with a punch to the face, or an elbow to the face.”  Spoiler alert!: that’s not going to happen.  Liddell gets a shot in, saying that Ortiz couldn’t move, just like in the cage.

Now, it’s back to fighting, as Liddell goes to announce the next fight, still sporting a huge grin from his dodgeball victory.  The fight will be between Court McGee and Nick Ring.  If you prefer, the “Amish looking dude” against the “guy who distractingly slurs all of his s’s”.  Ring says, “oh no you didn’t,” and hits a pose he calls “the don’t go there pose.”  It’s an apt description.

As he prepares, Liddell advises McGee to watch for the kicks of Ring.  He wants McGee to “stay all the way out or all the way in.”  Liddell wants to take out Ortiz’s top pick pretty badly.  McGee talks about his drinking problems back at the house, saying that one time he had a drink in Vegas and “ended up in Iowa with no pants on in somebody’s basement.”  Not my basement, mind you.  He says he’s been sober for “1,300 and some odd days,” though, which is good.

In training, the focus shifts to a teammate, as James Hammortree gets taken down by a teammate in the cage and immediately looks hurt.  It looks to be his back or his ribs.  The stretcher comes out, and Tito calls the incident “really scary,” before talking about his own back troubles.  Hammortree had been up for a spot in the wild card bout, too.  It ends up being no big deal, though, as Hammortree “just twisted wrong” and hurt his back, which has “a lot of swelling” now.

Back to the fight at hand, as Ring talks about how he missed three years of his career due to knee injuries.  He doesn’t feel any pressure, despite being the first pick of Ortiz.  Josh Bryant says Court should stay inside and punch from in close, while Hammortree does not think that McGee has the tools to beat Ring.  McGee says that he was a fighter since the age of 5.  Ummm…what?  Ring says that he never liked any ssssssportsssss, bessssssidessss sssssssoccer.  Okay, seriously.  He must be doing this on purpose.  Before the fight, Hackleman also tries to ease McGee’s mind, pointing out that much of Ring’s record was built by fighting subpar opponents.  I think that would be the case for most of these guys, though.

Finally, it’s fight time, as referee “Dirty” Josh Rosenthal will be presiding over the action.  He gets the boys started, as Ring steps right into a jab before being taken down.  Nothing is happening on the mat, and Ring is able to stand up.  Now McGee is more active, and is strangely throwing more kicks than Ring is, though Ring hits a nice front kick.  He also lands a nice kick to the body which visibly hurts McGee a bit.  They clinch, but McGee breaks, and counters a leg kick from Ring with a one-two combination.  McGee shoots, but Ring sprawls and controls McGee before taking his back.  He only gets one hook in, though, and McGee flops to his back and gets half guard.  Tito says, “Underhooks, underhooks, underhooks, underhooks, underhooks, underhooks, underhooks, underhooks, underhooks, underhooks!”  What’s that?  Annoying?  Noooooo, not at all!  McGee gets full guard when Ring punches, and both fighters punch actively as the round comes to a close.  I’d go 10-9 Ring, there.

Before the second round, Ortiz tells Ring to “inside leg kick all day.”  McGee opens up by throwing hard, though not landing, and he checks a leg kick from Ring.  Ring throws another leg kick, which lands.  McGee tries a spinning back kick, as the accumulation of leg kicks are starting to bother him.  McGee moves in and closes the distance, landing some punches.  Ring is not punching back when McGee closes the distance, and instead is just covering up.  McGee lands a nice uppercut that seems to be there whenever he closes the distance.  Ring looks tired now, and when he does throw punches, he is pushing them.  McGee clinches and knees to the body, then misses a head kick, eating a leg kick for his troubles afterward.  McGee comes forward and misses with a hook, clinching up with Ring again.  Ring knees to the leg as McGee punches to the body.  I’d give that to McGee 10-9, as he landed almost all of the punches and I think the uppercuts were a bit more effective than the leg kicks from Ring.

However, it doesn’t take Nostradamus to see what’s going to happen here, as we all remember the images of pissed-off Chuck from last week’s preview.  Sure enough, the judges have a decision, as we watch Liddell argue with Jamie Yager.  Yager is “explaining” the judging criteria to a former light heavyweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer.  You know, in case you wanted another reason to dislike him.  The judges go 20-18 (two times) and 19-19, awarding the majority decision to Ring, and Chuck is livid.  He prowls around the cage, asking everyone around including the judges how the fight could be scored that way.

“You guys kidding me?” he asks.  “That’s why it doesn’t go to the judges,” says Dana White.  Liddell doesn’t like that explanation, and shoots an absolute death stare White’s way.  White says, “what are you mad-dogging me for?”  He then adds, “he’s gonna kick my ass like I’m the judge!”  Liddell goes on a mini-rampage where no door is safe, and the cameraman oh-so-subtly goes from the shot to up above the doors where it says, “never leave it in the hands of the judges”.  I wonder how judges feel about being vilified in such a way.  If it seems like White is basically telling fighters, “hey, don’t let the judges screw you over, because they are absolutely incompetent fools,” that’s because he pretty much is.  Though, there are some examples that seem to back up such thinking.  I’m not sure that this was a bad enough decision to qualify, though.

Next week, the wild card fight will be announced, and a nagging injury for Ring is teased, as well.  Oh, and Joe Henle will take on Seth Baczynski, too.  Don’t miss it!  Or do miss it, so you can read my recap.  Whichever.

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Tags: Chuck Liddell, Court McGee, Dana White, James Hammortree, Jamie Yager, Kyacey Uscola, Nick Ring, The Ultimate Fighter Liddell vs Ortiz, Tito Ortiz