(‘Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?’ Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

Some have criticized this season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter by calling it “The Junie Browning Show.” That doesn’t seem to bother Browning, who says he’s happy as long as people are entertained. And let’s face it, we are.

On tonight’s episode Browning takes on Rolando Delgado, which he promises is “the best fight this season.” He also discusses some of his drunken antics, the response from his co-stars, and living up to the expectations of his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. It all makes for an interesting conversation and a fitting interview for our one-year anniversary, since Browning says he reads Cage Potato “all the time.” Who the hell can blame him?

CagePotato.com: Now that you’ve seen a few episodes of the show, what do you think of how they’ve portrayed you?

I think it’s pretty much correct. They didn’t really edit me to look like an asshole. I did that myself. I think I would have liked if they played some of the clips of me goofing around with the guys, but it’s 100% asshole on the show.

What do you think was the correct percentage of asshole? 50%? 80%?

I’d say about 90% asshole. A lot of the stuff I was doing started off as playing around and went from there. Like me throwing peanuts at the guys and stuff, that started as just playing around, but people might not realize that and think I was just always being an asshole.

Is that how you are all the time, or was that just in that house and on that show?

I think it was the house and the combination of tequila and vodka. I’m not like that all the time. Back at home I’m not like that. I’ve never had to be carried out of a bar or anything like that. I think it’s just that place that turns you crazy.

Well what about when we see you getting drunk and out of control, then Dana White comes and gives you a talk and you’re almost kicked out, then a couple days later you’re sober and getting into it again with Efrain Escudero?

(Team Nog smears sardines on the hearts that Tom Lawlor spent all week airbrushing. Seriously, though, what is up with this goddamned room? Does Abigail Breslin live in the TUF house too?)

During this week of The Ultimate Fighter you all got to see the final reaction with Junie jumping the cage and calling me out. What a disaster. Upon coming on to the show I knew that I had to be calm and level-headed. There was no way in hell I would throw my career away for a stupid fight over pride. That was the only thing that was going through my head when he jumped the cage. So I just kept cool and collected and no hard feelings — after all, it’s just Junie.

After that episode of Junie TV, I decided to continue being me and doing what I was doing. So I put on my smirk. After my fight with Shane the guys pulled a prank on me and put my underwear in the freezer. Which at the time I thought was pretty funny, nothing but a harmless prank. The Red Team and I searched high and low all over that place, and finally found them in the bottom of the freezer. Good one, ha-ha, but soon things escalated and went a little further. They put itching powder on the Red Team’s beds which was horrible. After a long day and an even longer hunt for my underwear all I wanted to do was sleep — then my body starts to itch along with Kyle and some of the other guys. Needless to say we were upset. Messing with a fighters underwear is one thing but messing with his sleep…not cool.

After that it was time to hit the old laundry room. It took me about an hour to get my sheets clean and I was pretty pissed about that. After the itching powder scene, Kyle and the gang decided to get sardines and put them all over the Blue Team’s room. It smelled horrible. Mir’s team gets home and they were not very happy about it, especially Vinny. Vinny definitely took it the wrong way and for some reason I got the worst end of it. The man PISSED on my pillow. To be completely honest it was not a big deal for me, it was like whatever. Once again I have to make sure I keep my head — no way I am going to blow my shot at the UFC. I just ordered a new pillow, no worries. However, just the fact that he pissed on my pillow was pretty bad in itself. I decided not to retaliate and stay focused on my game plan.

(The glory before the fall. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

TUF 8 lightweight Shane Nelson was eliminated from competition on last night’s “Ultimate Fighter,” but not before a night of drinking with Junie Allen Browning turned into a near expulsion for the two. Now Nelson talks with CagePotato.com and reflects on the drunken debauchery, the rivalry with Efrain Escudero, and some of the antics of his blonde friend that he saw for the first time in last night’s episode.

CagePotato: Now that you’ve seen it on TV, what did you think of the way the situation with you and Junie was portrayed? Was that how you remember it?

Nelson: Yeah, it was pretty much what it seems on TV. Basically we were watching the pay-per-view, we decided to have a couple of drinks, we had one too many drinks, and then things got out of control from there. What they didn’t show and which I thought they would show, was the next morning when I woke up I went to Delgado and Efrain and I apologized to them and we all put everything behind us. I’m surprised that they left that part out of the show.

Did Dana White come and talk to you guys the very next night after it happened?

Yeah, Dana White came and talked to us the very next night, but the fight wasn’t the next day after Dana talked to us. The fight was about five days after that whole night. So it wasn’t like the drinking still had an effect on me in the fight.

What was going through your mind when Dana showed up?

Oh, we thought we were gone. Junie and I both thought we were getting kicked off the show, because when we first got there the producers stressed that we weren’t allowed to touch anyone or anything like that, and we both crossed that line. I pushed two people and Junie took a swing at a few people, so we both thought we were going home for sure.

So how did things start between you and Efrain?

Well, we were watching the fights and, I’m from B.J. [Penn]’s school, and they all knew that. So we were watching the pay-per-view and common courtesy, you know, if you make comments about my coach, you know it’s going to bother me. He was cheering for Sean Sherk, which is fine, but some of the comments he made while he was cheering for him got under my skin and that’s how me and him got into it.

(Believe it or not, this is how AZ rolls, baby, all day.)

Every Thursday, Team Nogueira member Efrain Escudero blogs his reactions to each new episode of The Ultimate Fighter, exclusively on CagePotato.com. Don’t forget to check out the new fan section on EfrainEscudero.com, where you can interact with other EE fans and Efrain himself.

***

During this week of The Ultimate Fighter we had a lot of drama. First we were watching UFC 84: ILL WILL, and it was the only time we get to see television the entire time we are there. Junie and Shane start drinking, and I mean drinking. Since we’ve been in the house we have noticed that when Junie drinks we have to be on the look out and watch each other’s backs because he tries to fight us. Right after the angry Junie comes the crying Junie, and we don’t understand why.

As the fights continue I try to get Shane mad by telling him that BJ Penn was going to lose. I knew that wasn’t going to happen, but I just wanted to make it an exciting fight, and try to get Shane more excited about watching BJ win. That was not the smartest thing I could have done because he had been drinking and he was teaming up with Junie, so I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. As the night progresses, Junie tries to fight with Kyle. I don’t know why he would ever try to even attempt that because Kyle would kick his ass if it really came down to it. So Junie throws a glass at Kyle and the damn thing breaks and cuts him. Luckily for Kyle it didn’t cut him badly and even luckier for Junie, Kyle could restrain himself.

Junie, Junie, Junie. [*shakes head*]

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter started with the guys peacefully watching UFC 84, you know, just minding their own business. We see several highlights of Lyoto Machida beating up on Tito Ortiz. (So Dana White edits this show too? Impressive.) Inevitably, the evening is ruined by Junie Allen Goddamned Browning, who goes through a few bottles of chardonnay with Shane Nelson. Junie starts screwing with Team Nogueira, throws his drink in Kyle Kingsbury’s face, and then the glass, which breaks and cuts KK’s arm. This creates the major engine in the episode’s drama: Junie becomes convinced that he’s getting kicked out of the house for injuring his housemate, so he might as well self-destruct completely.

Shane Nelson, who “has the alcohol tolerance of a 12-year-old girl,” starts harassing Ryan Bader, then Roli Delgado, then Efrain Escudero; he shoves Roli and Efrain, trying to bait one of them into a fight, but they keep their respective cools. Junie and Shane are the Toxic Twins, feeding off each other’s bullshit, doing their best to out-do the other. They start throwing furniture into the pool.

Eventually, the other guys go outside to observe the damage. Junie gets in K-Sos’s face. “I wish y’all were my size,” he says to the light-heavyweights. K-Sos, the passive-aggressive prankster, gently places Junie’s clothes in the pool after he dives in. When Junie finds them, he’s understandably upset. K-Sos, unlike his last prank on light-heavyweight Ryan Bader, claims ownership for this one. Junie calls him a bitch. K-Sos calmly explains, “You’re the bitch. You are the biggest bitch of them all.” Bader throws Junie’s stuff back in the pool, and Junie drags him in, then kicks Tom LOL’er when him and Bader are pulled out. After a while, he cools off and tells everyone how much he likes them. What a bitch.

Every Thursday morning, Team Nogueira member Efrain Escudero will give his reactions to each new episode of The Ultimate Fighter on CagePotato.com. Here’s what he had to say about last night’s installment, from the team-picking to the drunken drama.

***

After Dana sent the losing fighters home, we piled into the vans and made our first trip into the house. This was a great moment not only for me but also for the other 15 guys. When we walked into the house we were jacked. This isn’t some ordinary house — this place is LEGIT. We all took a look around and then rushed to pick our beds. I must say we were pretty slick to get a room on the bottom floor so when we’re tired from training or a night of boozing we don’t need to be struggling up a bunch of stairs. At this point I was still very happy, because I was a big fan of The Ultimate Fighter from the beginning and now I’m in the house where it all started. At this point we start bonding with one another — people start talking shit, joking around, just trying to break the ice and get a feel for each other.

After touring the house we go to the training center where Dana kicks Karn and Brian out due to injury. Brian’s injury was unexpected; on the other hand Karn was an idiot because he wanted to go to the doctor after they told him “Hey, your hand is ok!” He asked for a second opinion, and now he gets kicked out. GOOD JOB BUDDY, NEXT TIME THEY SAY IT’S OK THEN THAT MEANS IT’S OK. After that they brought back Kyle Kingsbury, and I was glad because he had a tough fight to get into the house. I really like Kyle — he’s a nice guy who loves to have fun, so why wouldn’t I like him? Now I have to thank Karn because if it wasn’t for him and his second opinion Kyle wouldn’t be with us in the house.

The second time we went to the training center for the team picks, Frank Mir was talking to Bader and I, telling us that he’ll be taking his team out to the river to go shooting and all these cool things, so at that point I wanted to be in his team; it sounded like fun. Ryan and I ended up getting picked by Nogueira, but I really didn’t care because I was ready to get after it.

(Photo courtesy of MySpace.com/effyescudero)

Efrain Escudero is a 22-year-old Southwest MMA product who has built up a flawless 10-0 record fighting primarily in his home state of Arizona. Every Thursday morning, the TUF 8 lightweight will be blogging his reactions to each new episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir for CagePotato.com. There wasn’t much to discuss in last night’s episode — other than the fact that Efrain earned a spot in the house with a quick choke-out of Ido Pariente — but going forward, Efrain will give us the inside scoop about what happened on and off camera, and his experience living with 15 other crazy sons-a-bitches. To learn more about Efrain, check out EfrainEscudero.com.

***

After sitting and waiting through all the other fights, I was getting very anxious to step into the cage and earn my spot into the house. As more and more fighters got their names called I had only one thing on my mind: WINNING. Sitting there, I started to think about my upcoming fight and I began to worry. I found out that I would be fighting out of the red corner. The red team’s coaches would help me warm up and would be cornering me throughout my fight. So the fights begin and I don’t know anybody there, I don’t know my corner men, so this is uncharted waters for me. But worrying is like a rocking chair — you can go back and forth but you won’t get anywhere — so I decided to start warming up for my fight.

Since my corner men were coaching fighters in the cage, I decided to hit the bag for a while, but I still didn’t feel like I was ready for the biggest fight of my life. I quit hitting the bag and started running to prepare myself and get focused. At this point I was stuck in my own world — I wasn’t even paying attention to the other fights going on. Next thing I know it’s my turn. Once I heard the cage door shut behind me, I knew there was no way I was walking out without earning a bed in that house.

A few minutes later I was walking out of the Octagon feeling like a million bucks because I know I’m going to the best place to be in the world. Being there while Dana was sending all the other fighters home was a crazy situation. I was sitting with a handful of guys who had their dreams crushed, who knew they might never get another opportunity like this. Looking around at the remaining guys I still had no clue about them and I couldn’t be happier. But enough about everybody else…it’s time to start training.