TUF 6 Quickcap
Not looking for a minute-by-minute account of each episode? Just want the basic facts so that you're caught up for the next week? Well, you've come to the right place. Let's go straight to my quickcap of episode three of The Ultimate Fighter 6.
Notable Matt Hughes quote of the week: A week after holding bible study and comparing himself to the Queen in the parable he had his fighters read, Hughes continued with more memorable quotes this week. Hughes claimed to his team that he only has two or three fights left in his career and that he didn't train up to his standards in his last four or so fights.
Will Joe Scarola finally leave the house?: It didn't take long for the real-life Matt Serra protégé to finally call it quits. After whining about wanting to go home for the better part of an episode and a half, even a visit from Dana White couldn't ultimately stop Scarola from leaving the house on his own in episode three. Serra claimed that if Scarola, the best man at his wedding, left he would no longer be Serra's trainer. Alas, nobody could convince Scarola to stay. I'll miss watching him slowly throw away the best opportunity he may ever have in his life.
TUF fighters meet their 17th cast member -- alcohol: Reality TV wouldn't be what it is without alcohol and hot tubs. In the third episode, we finally got some alcohol. And the fighters did what we would all do -- they banged their heads against large metal shields, they tossed punching dummies into the pool, they climbed the roof of the house, and they "painted" the walls.
The fight: Hughes picked Billy Miles from his team to fight Team Serra's Joe Kolosci. It seemed as though everyone including White believed Miles would win. Everyone, that is, except Kolosci and coach Serra. Even suffering a cold or the flu on fight day, Kolosci defeated Miles by Guillotine choke in the first round.
The score: Team Serra now leads Team Hughes 2-1. Team Serra picks the next fight.
Next week's teaser: Apparently, week two's eliminated fighter, Dorian Price crosses the line and attempts to or actually does assault a member of the show's filming crew.
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please 
Comments
Great line on "alcohol" being the most recent addition to the cast.
If MMA is to really catch on in America, it will have to gain acceptance in middle America. The brilliance of TUF in showing us young kids with a dream is tempered by the other edge of the blade of exposure; that we also see that some of these guys are a parents' worst nightmare. Midnight drunken debauchery and destruction is not appealing to Moms and Dads in middle America. Makes these guys hard to root for.
Purely from a marketing standpoint, you have a hard time selling a product that scares the hell out of the majority of the buying public.
While condomdepot.com adds do no real harm on a fighter's trunks, middle American isn't hip to that, either. There is an edgy element to MMA that Dana White and other decision makers will have to contend with if MMA is to truly ascend to NFL level of appeal and popularity.
Of course the conduct of many NFL players is making this ascension much less grand, but there's still significant air between current acceptance and the desired market share.
As to Joe Scarola, Dana White couldn't have been any clearer. Matt Serra has proven himself a blowhard just in what we've been shown, threatening more than once to boot Joe off himself, so I can see why Joe didn't believe Matt was serious. But Dana is often eloquent, but always, always very, very clear.
You're an idiot, Scarola. You will be the dumbest guy we've seen on TV.
Until next week.
Posted by: R Murphy | October 5, 2007 12:24 PM