Last week on TUF, Mac Danzig (Pictures) was disgusted by Blake Bowman's effort in defeat. This week he questions why Bowman is even on the show.
Danzig lets words fly, telling Bowman that he's not a real fighter. He calls Bowman's skills, accent and southern lineage into question while mixing in some colorful words.
Team Hughes has a meeting to discuss who should fight next. Hughes is looking at Paul Georgieff or Jared Rollins (Pictures) to represent his squad. Georgieff wants to fight Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver, thinking he's the best match-up. However, Hughes feels that Troy Mandaloniz (Pictures) would be another Serra fighter worth picking. Georgieff defers to Rollins to be the next to fight, and it looks like we're in for Mandaloniz versus Rollins.
Hold the phone. Georgieff gets a call that delivers some very tragic news. He finds out that a close cousin has passed away, and he is forced to decide whether to stay on the show or to attend the wake. The loss of his cousin isn't the only thing on Georgieff's mind; he explains that he also has family that needs him during this time of mourning. Georgieff is touched when his teammates reach out to him, giving him support and space while he deals with the tragedy.
Georgieff sleeps on it, then decides that he needs to be with his family. But before he can board a plane, Dana White calls and tells Georgieff he is free to go home and come back on the condition that he fights before he leaves.
Obviously this forces Matt Hughes (Pictures)' hand. The former welterweight champ asks Georgieff whom he would like to fight, and again Georgieff chooses "War Machine." For some reason, though, Hughes decides to pit Georgieff against Troy Mandaloniz (Pictures).
Hughes explains part of his decision, reasoning that Georgieff is "bigger than Troy, longer than Troy." That's great, but in the next few minutes they also mention that Georgieff is a ground fighter, which kind of makes being bigger and longer a moot point.
Georgieff has a talk with Hughes' assistant coach and mentions that he doesn't want to get hit due to his future engineering career. The coach has to set him straight. "You will get hit," the coach says, and Georgieff nods.
Seriously, what is going on with this show?
I don't blame Georgieff or Joe Scarola, who bailed last week. These are young guys who just want some TV time. I blame the UFC and Spike. We have a nation full of fighters dreaming for this kind of opportunity, but they're not being cast.
Last weekend at a post-fight news conference, I listened to a guy sincerely apologize for his effort in a fight where, once again, I saw this young man face an opponent with a bigger name, loads more experience and probably more physical talent than he could ever hope for. This particular fighter has done nothing but repeatedly take on some very scary talent on last-minute notice and give them all they can handle -- just because he wants to fight.
Here he was apologizing about his balls-out effort. Meanwhile some of these jokers on TUF are losing in give-away fights and then bragging that they are now "Ultimate Fighters" because they got their snot box rocked in the Octagon.
I've never bashed fighters before and I hope I never will, but I don't think I'm out of line to point out that a lot of this season's competitors aren't there for the right reasons. It's not my job to say they aren't worthy -- that's the UFC's job, and the UFC isn't doing it.
I'm starting to miss the tug-o-war challenges from the first season.
So anyway, Team Hughes chooses Mandaloniz, "Rude Boy" to you and me, who is a B.J. Penn (Pictures) understudy.
This is your easy choice? I don't get it. I'm a decent-sized Texan. Most people don't scare me, but once I went to Hawaii to see a girlfriend. It was the one time in my life that I thought, "Holy crap, I could really get my ass kicked out here." I guess Team Hughes knows something I don't since they thought a B.J. Penn (Pictures) student with the name "Rude Boy" would be an easy choice.
"Rude Boy is a tough Hawaiian," Serra says.
Really? At this point that's like saying "monkeys can be unruly." Not really all that groundbreaking. Serra thinks that the more physical this fight gets, the better chance "Rude Boy" has. I'd say so -- the other guy doesn't want to get hit in the face.
Danzig is back at the house, doing good deeds by extracting a bee from the house and letting it loose in the backyard. He does it for the small creatures of the world. Inside the house, however, it's a different story, as Dorion Price is trying to murder a fly with his frozen ice pop.
Danzig discusses his own actions: "I will save any insects I can. I actually care about the animals and insects of the world."
I don't doubt him, but it's curious that he doesn't care for humans from Georgia, like Blake Bowman.
Hughes catches wind of Danzig's beef with Bowman, and during training Hughes tells his guys that he's pissed about it and wants them to be a team. Danzig doesn't really care since Hughes wasn't there and doesn't care to know his side of the situation.
Next thing you know, it's fight time. It's an emotional day for both Georgieff and Mandaloniz as they enter the cage. Mandaloniz gets teary-eyed thinking about what he was fighting for, knowing that this is an opportunity for him that he can't afford to lose. Georgieff goes into the fight with a very heavy heart, trying to channel the pain and loss of his young cousin to help him in the Octagon.
Georgieff immediately walks into a punch, though, that rocks him. He shows that his standup is unpolished, but he wisely grabs Mandaloniz and pulls guard. Then Georgieff begins to climb with his legs and works for a Kimura.
When that doesn't pan out, Georgieff starts to work for some angles, but "Rude Boy" stands up to get back to his strong suit. Here Mandaloniz jacks Georgieff with a right hand to the jaw that puts his whole body on pause, causing him to stiffen and drop to the canvas, where Herb Dean (Pictures) stops the action early in the first round.
Hughes is angry, again, with the loss. Although he preaches the team concept, he walks away, leaving Georgieff's teammates to help him along and lend moral support. Serra points out the score is 4-1 in his favor, and that puts an exclamation point on why Hughes is so peeved.