(Tim Credeur takes a brain-scrambling illegal upkick.)

One of TUF 7‘s brightest prospects had to work his ass off to keep his place in the house on last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, as Tim Credeur battled his way through a very game (but ultimately too inexperienced) Matthew Riddle. The fight was one of the best in recent TUF history, but before it went down, the following happened:

— Jesse Taylor, who we’ll henceforth refer to as “Mongo,” followed up his brilliant can’t-figure-out-the-dishwasher performance from last episode with a sequence of him not being able to figure out how to open a bottle of beer, then accidentally breaking some wooden window blinds. He also has “questionable spots on his body,” and with Paul Bradley’s herpes scare still fresh in their minds, Mongo’s housemates spray him down with Tinactin. Mongo is unfortunately poised to be the Private Pyle of the house.

— Matt “Chipper” Riddle is chomping at the bit to fight. His goofy enthusiasm rubs Dante Rivera the wrong way, and some trash talking ensues. Rivera claims he’ll retire from fighting if Riddle ever beats him, and after it’s announced that Riddle has been picked to face Tim Credeur, Rivera tries to bet Riddle $500 that he’ll lose the fight. Riddle refuses, and accuses Rivera of trying to get inside his head. “I live inside your head,” Rivera says. “You’re my son right now.”

— Tim Credeur knows that the Ultimate Fighter experience is a do-or-die moment in his career; if it doesn’t work out, he may need to find a different line of work. And the fact that he could be derailed by some punk-ass mama’s boy visibly upsets him. “For [Riddle], it’s a cool time, it’s neato mosquito,” Credeur says. “But for me, this is not neato.” He then says “let the good times roll” in French.

— Rampage tries to instill hatred of Team Forrest in his guys by suggesting that “Team Brown Nose” gets better treatment. “I bet their gloves fit them,” he says. In one scene, he goes to CB Dollaway for his take on what the next matchup might be; Dollaway may be emerging as Rampage’s consigliere.

So, Tim Credeur (Team Forrest, 10-2) and Matthew Riddle (Team Rampage, 1-0) finally go toe-to-toe, and it’s a wild one.

Riddle locks Credeur up early in the first round and takes him down. Riddle takes Credeur’s back, but seems lost on how to use the position; a single choke attempt is easily deflected. Credeur eventually gets up and the two fighters exchange strikes. The fight goes to the ground a second time with Riddle on top, but Credeur gets up for another brief strike exchange. The fighters go to the ground a third time with Credeur on top of Riddle against the cage. Riddle reverses and tries to take Credeur’s back; Credeur tries to roll into a leglock, and Riddle escapes and drops a big elbow from the top. Then Credeur reverses and gets the mount. For a scary 30 seconds, Riddle has to hang in while taking bunches o’ punches from Credeur. Riddle rolls to his back in the closing seconds. Credeur sinks in a rear-naked-choke but the horn sounds. Riddle gets up, bloodied and shaken. 1st round to Credeur.

Round 2: Riddle immediately goes in for a desperate-looking takedown, but manages to land on top of Credeur. Credeur reverses the position, and while trying to defend, Riddle nails him with a very nasty illegal upkick (Creduer’s knees were on the ground). Credeur works some elbows from the top, but Riddle gets up and fires the kitchen sink at Credeur, blasting him with punches, kicks, and knees, and finally taking Creduer to the mat. Rampage, sensing that Riddle was beating Credeur in standup and is outmatched on the ground, pleads with Riddle to get up. But Riddle refuses to give up his position, and him and Credeur exchange punches on the mat. Rampage’s fears become realized as Credeur nearly sinks an arm triangle from the bottom, then reverses Riddle, briefly gets the mount, and snatches an armbar. Riddle taps.

Rampage is pissed at Riddle afterwards, but tells him he’s not mad — he’s just disappointed. Team Rampage is now down 0-2, and their coach is no longer the jolly joke-cracker. In the preview for the next episode, Rampage flips over a table, and Michael Bisping stops by to say “oi.”