The Ultimate Fighter: USA vs UK Episode 9 Recap

On the last episode, Jason Pierce was tossed out of the competition by Dana White for his health issues, and Jason Dent beat Jeff Lawson to advance to the next round.  This time, we’ll find out who will step up and face David Faulkner, as well as whether Faulkner will be able to overcome his really freaking strange problem of not being able to keep his mouthpiece in his mouth.

Dan Henderson starts things off by telling the US fighters that Pierce won’t be fighting, and starts assessing who would be a good replacement.  Both of the Americans who lost are banged up, but Mark Miller has a broken nose and Frank Lester has lost a few teeth.  Both guys want to fight, though, and tell Dana White exactly that.  Lester says that since he already lost, and already lost his teeth, to boot, that he feels as if he has nothing to lose.  Go figure!

Pierce is in the car and not exactly telling the truth to his teammates.  He’s asked whether he protested when White rendered his decision, and says that he did.  Video evidence suggests otherwise.  Back at the house, Santino Defranco says that “this is Lord of the Flies, and Pierce is the pig”.  Damarques Johnson thinks that Pierce should lose all of his free UFC and Tapout gear, as a penalty.  Let’s not go too far, fellas.  Don’t take the man’s clothes!  The two who are willing to fight despite having injuries are contrasted against Pierce’s unwillingness, as they talk about the fact that they will go at it no matter what.

Henderson talks to the guys in the gym, and lets them know that Lester will be the one to fight, as the commission won’t let Miller fight with a broken nose.  White talks about Lester’s mind set, and how different it is than the rest of us that don’t fight for a living.  Point taken.

After the break, Henderson is shown detailing the strategy for Lester.  Hendo wants Lester to sprawl and brawl, utilizing a strategy to make Faulkner pay when he shoots in.  Lester hits the mitts and Hendo tells him to hit hard without loading up, or Hendo would shove his foot up his ass.  In an amusing scene, Pierce is shown barking instructions at Lester as he hits the pads.  Hmmm.

Hendo meets with Michael Bisping about changing his team’s practice time, and Bisping says that it isn’t happening.  Bisping suggests that he’d be “bending over and taking it up his ass” if he allows it, and Hendo is surprisingly diplomatic, even as Bisping throws his weight around a bit.  Hendo thinks it’s fair, since his team has woken up early thus far, and thinks that Bisping was “a little bitch” about it.  Bisping thinks that the fairest way to decide is to have his best fighter fight an injured guy who fought less than a week ago, but Hendo doesn’t like that solution.

Bisping tells Hendo that he doesn’t want to do it, and Hendo says that he was informed that he had the option to switch if he wanted to.  Bisping says it’s not fair, still.  This is the best drama we get this season?  “Should we play tennis again?” says Hendo.  “That’s a low blow,” counters Bisping.  Oooooh.  Separate them now!

For whatever reason, Bisping decides to squirt his water bottle in Johnson’s face as Bisping walks by, and Johnson throws his hat at Bisping in response.  Bisping says it was a “bit of a punk move” but that he did it without planning to ahead of time.  He goes in the back to apologize, and Johnson wants a minute before he accepts.  Bisping says, “let’s put it in perspective…it’s a bottle of water, it rains every day in England.”  Hendo compares Bisping’s behavior to that of his kids at home, while Johnson says he would fight Bisping in a parking lot.  Well, he would have a better chance in the parking lot than in the cage.

The Faulkner-Lester fight is announced, and Bisping once again tries to add to the stakes by putting the training time issue on the result.  Hendo refuses, saying that the UK will wake up early the next week no matter what.  Bisping says it is “still to be discussed”.  Again, this is the best we could do for drama this season.  I do have to say it is more dignified than peeing in other fighters’ food or throwing glasses at each other in the house, though.

The next day (presumably), the UK fighters are in the gym at 9:00am, and Bisping says that the “powers that be have overruled me”.  Faulkner is shown struggling with his overactive gag reflex yet again.  Bisping says he just needs a decent mouthpiece.  I have no idea how Faulkner has made it this long with the issue that he is having with wearing a mouthpiece.

So, Faulkner goes to the hypnotist, who never blinks, according to Faulkner.  Alice Nasife claims that she can “reprogram” his gag reflex as relates to his mouthpiece.  She rattles off some stuff about the mouthpiece representing protection and how he will trust the mouthpiece.  Faulkner says he was never really hypnotized, but our friendly hypnotist sees a twinkle in his eye afterwards, so I guess we’re all good?

Lester is back at the house, talking about the mental aspect of fighting, and how he has trouble in the hours leading up to fights.  He says the mental aspect is the hardest part of being a fighter, which makes sense.  Then, we see the guys warming up in their locker rooms, and Bisping gives Faulkner a pep talk about his motivations for being a pro fighter.  Lester says he will fight on “pure heart and will”.

We’re in the octagon now, and referee “Relentless” Steve Mazzagatti starts us off, and Bisping tells Faulkner to “knock the rest of his teeth out”.  The two circle at first, with Lester definitely looking more gun-shy than usual.  Faulkner seems to respect Lester’s power, as he is keeping his distance while landing the occasional leg kick.  Lester definitely doesn’t want to go into punching range, though once his adrenaline gets going he should be okay.

Faulkner rushes in and clinches Lester against the cage.  Faulkner is trying to work some dirty boxing, and then drops for a takedown, but Lester uses underhooks to reverse position and put Faulkner in the cage momentarily.  Faulkner ends up backing out, and then fires a leg kick for good measure.  Lester seems to be more aggressive now, and comes in for the clinch, using knees to wear down Faulkner, who backs out and lands a big left on Lester. 

Faulkner clinches again against the cage, then backs out with a big combination that whiffs.  Faulkner is breathing very hard, and Lester moves forward slowly.  Faulkner is looking for one big punch, and his mouth is wide open as he breathes heavily.  Lester is also looking for a big punch, and another clinch brings the round to a close.  That one has to go to Faulkner by a slim margin, as he landed a couple of punches and leg kicks, while Lester had only a leg kick and some knees to the body to his credit.

Round two then kicks off, and Faulkner spits out his mouthpiece.  Bisping tells the ref to stop the fight to put it back in, and also tells Faulkner to keep it in.  If Faulkner continues to do that, he can have a point deducted for stalling, you know.  We wind up in the clinch again, and Lester works wrist control on his opponent and ends up getting away.  Lester fires some nice punches at his British foe, and is looking a lot fresher at this point of the fight.  He works a Muay Thai clinch to land a couple of knees, as well.  Faulkner tries a jumping knee which doesn’t appear to land.

Hendo wants Lester to circle away from the cage, but he seems to be too tired.  We have a stalemate in the clinch, though both fighters are trying to throw some knees.  Faulkner lands a nice uppercut, and then ends up in the clinch of Lester again.  They separate, and Faulkner actually jogs a half a lap around the cage to get away, then puts his hands on his knees.  Are the UK fighters not working cardio?!?  Faulkner presses Lester against the cage yet again, presumably to regain his endurance, and the two separate and throw some big punches as the round ends.  That one should go to Lester.

Faulkner is in bad shape.  He can barely breathe, and Bisping is just trying to get him together for one more round.  Hendo tells Lester that he just has to land some jabs for one more round, and he’ll win the fight.  White confirms what we already knew, that we’re going to sudden victory.  But…Faulkner says that he’s done!  Bisping is trying to get him to fight, but Faulkner is adamant that he’s done.  Unbelievable.  Bisping storms out, angry that the US team is chanting “U-S-A” and celebrating.  Faulkner says his throat is “so dry”, but that he “enjoyed the fight”.  He’s pleased to be relieved of stress.

Bisping gathers his remaining guys for a little pep talk, as he wants them to realize the opportunity that they have.  This is crazy, to be honest.  These guys are professional fighters.  Getting a chance to get a crack at what is far and away the best organization in the world is the biggest chance these guys could ever have, and yet how many each season drop out completely?  How many lawyer would question their own motivation if given a chance to win a job at a top firm?  Would writers who supposedly want to make a living covering sports pass up a chance to write for Sports Illustrated or ESPN.com?  You don’t see aspiring singers complaining about the cameras or not being sure if they really want to be singers on “American Idol”.  If you want to be a fighter, how could you squander a shot at being in the UFC?!?!  I can finally understand White’s incredulous attitude during his bi-annual “do you want to be a fighter” speeches.

In the US locker room, a justifiably tired Frank Lester sits on the couch, unable to do any celebrating, as his teammates celebrate for him.  He says that he’s “one step closer to being an official badass”.  True indeed.

Next, Richie Whitson calls out Jason Pierce, and the semifinal picks are made, as some teammate-on-teammate action is hinted at.  Who will be the first to punch their ticket to the finale?  We’ll find out in one week.

 by Jon Hartley for Fightmania.com

Tags: Dan Henderson, Dana White, UFC