TUF 10

(Schaub vs. Madsen stoppage, via bothmiddlefingers)

Matt Mitrione is still bitching about his alleged brain damage. He says a doctor's visit revealed that he has some minor swelling in the brain, which turned into a migraine. As a result, he's a little slow and it's taking a little longer for him to say things. Trevor Wittman calls horseshit — swelling of the brain is life-threatening, and the doctor wouldn't just send him back to the house. Coach Rashad still can't get a clear read on if Mitrione really wants to continue fighting; he has to want it for himself more than his coaches want it for him. James McSweeney — who's scheduled to fight Mitrione in the third quarterfinal match — feels that Mitrione is just playing games, and in his book, Meathead just went from "rat" to "two faced little bitch without a heart."

While rolling with Demico Rogers, Kimbo Slice tweaks his knee. He'd obviously be the first fighter to return if Mitrione has to withdraw from the competition, but Coach Rampage is worried that McSweeney would focus on the bum joint with kicks. (In Kimbo's charming personal dialect, McSweeney is a "tree chopper.") Later, a doctor tells Kimbo that he's missing some cartilage, but Kimbo won't get a cortisone shot because big needles freak him out. He suffers through an ice bath outside the TUF house, while his housemates laugh at his agony.

He may not look like much.  He may have terrible takedown defense and he may speak in a monotone voice that makes him sound like a robot that is slowly running out of power.  But “Ultimate Fighter” season ten heavyweight Abe Wagner is one perceptive son of a bitch.  While everyone else in the house traded unfounded speculation about whether Matt Mitrione was faking the whole ‘hurt brain’ thing, Wagner did some sleuthing that turned up incontrovertible evidence, and he shares it with us in his Fight Magazine blog:

“I wasn’t personally very convinced of his head injury and thought he was continuing to play the game the way he had been up to this point. A prime reason why I felt that way was he came up to me eating peanut butter M&M’s and asked me if it was normal for them to be delicious or if his brain was really that messed up. This was obviously a joke because everyone knows that peanut butter M&M’s are delicious. In my experience people with real brain trauma have no humor; it just doesn’t occur to them. So that he was able to make jokes with me made me think that his head injury wasn’t in fact that bad.”

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution rests. 

Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly scientific, but it’s still very difficult to argue with.  Who makes it all the way to adulthood without finding out that peanut butter M&M’s are delicious?  Some people learn it on the streets, some in an uncomfortable talk with their father, but by a certain age, everyone knows it.  Oddly though, his take on Mitrione and peanut butter M&M’s was somehow not the strangest moment in his post-episode blog.  No, that happened when he got around to discussing the chicken prank and its aftermath:

(Nelson vs. Wren. Props: CreativeProjectTV)

With seven of his guys advanced to the quarterfinals, Coach Rashad decides that the fairest way to proceed is for him to take a hands-off approach. Everybody will train together, but there won't be much coaching anymore. The guys are on their own.

Roy Nelson and Justin Wren are friends. Roy wants to get their fight over with so he can go back to giggling and shooting the crap with his homey, and he feels bad that he'll have to take Justin's dream away.

Matt Mitrione's brain hurts, even more than usual. He dry-heaves at the house, and can barely stay in a sitting position in the van. Wren thinks he's milking it. Kimbo says "he already has sand in his vagina. He already pulled out by going to the hospital." If he can't continue, Dana says he and the coaches will decide "who the alternate is who deserves to be in there." Deserving or not, we all know it would be Kimbo Slice. But nobody seems to mind the favoritism. Rampage is pulling for Kimbo to return because he's improved so much during his time in the house. Kimbo says he's a fight contractor, putting tools in his belt to build a solid fight foundation, and if he gets a chance to put his haymakers on you, you a done-dada.

Sneak Peek: Team Rashad Prepares For The Quarterfinals

Tonight's episode of TUF 10 will feature the season's first quarterfinal matchup, in which polar-bearish grapplers Justin Wren and Roy Nelson — arguably the two strongest fighters in the house — go toe-to-toe in a Youth vs. Experience matchup. Because they practice on the same team, each dude always has one eye on the other, though the vibe between them is generally respectful. Rashad feels uncomfortable with the prospect of training his guys against each other, because he doesn't want to look like he's playing favorites — though that ruse won't last long considering Schaub and McSweeney obviously are his favorites. Check out the episode tonight and come back tomorrow morning for group discussion...