The Weekly Wrap: April 18 - April 24

Jack EncarnacaoApr 25, 2009
Photo Courtesy: SpikeTV

TUF 9 is heating up.
TUF 9 continues

With both teams finally set, Team U.K. went up one fight in the first matchup of the season on this week's episode of "The Ultimate Fighter." Nicholas Osipczak, a lanky southpaw welterweight out of London who helped coach Michael Bisping train for his fight with Chris Leben, defeated Mark Miller. The 24-year-old Osipczak overcame a significant experience deficit to catch the International Fight League veteran with a scintillating head kick for the second-round knockout.

The game plan was to use Osipczak's reach, though it was switched up after Bisping and company viewed tapes of Miller's fights on YouTube. Osipczak came close with a guillotine attempt in the first round and landed the kick in the second when Miller had his hands down.

The fight was notable for who could be spotted at cageside. The late Charles "Mask" Lewis Jr. of Tapout fame was on hand for the bout, which was taped early this year. Also seated next to Dana White was No. 2 ranked featherweight Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto. The episode included Team U.S.A. firing the first shot in the prank department, writing "Team US 1 Team UK 0" on a t-shirt and writing on Ross Pearson's wrestling boots. There will be two fights on next week's episode.

The episode drew a 1.0 share rating and an average audience of 1.4 million viewers on Spike TV, according to MMAPayout.com. That’s up from a 0.9 rating and 1.2 million viewers last week.