(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.
Since they have very little to do these days, Rampage and Tiki decide to get their prank on. They put a bunch of chickens in Rashad and Trevor’s cars, which they fed a lot the night before for maximum funk-production. Rashad cracks up when he comes across the scene. They crapped all over his car, but it was a rental, so eff it. After a frantic chicken-catching session, Rashad names one Quinton. "Don’t say nothin’ tuhme," he tells Quinton the Chicken. When Rashad calls the animal cops about the chicken situation, he’s told that the chickens would be killed, so Team Rashad just sets them free next to the gym. Real humane, guys. Those chickens were some coyote’s breakfast the next morning. Quinton the Man is upset that the prank was so well-received, but he’s got one more trick up his sleeve.
Dana shows up at the house and asks Matt if he’s going to fight. Mitrione hems and haws about it. He’ll fight as long as he can get some cardio in later in the week. He’ll fight as long as his brain doesn’t get rattled again. He’ll fight if the doctor says he can. Junk rolls up with his destroyed right eye and says he’ll fight if Matt can’t. No sand in that guy’s vagina.
James McSweeney predicts that Justin will take the fight. Big Baby likes Justin because he’s so cute (pause). Kimbo likes Roy, and goes into a strange fantasy about a young Justin Wren eating donuts and lying to his momma about it. Dana: "Roy loves Roy more than anybody loves Roy…I’m still waiting to be impressed by him."
It’s time to fight, and with Rashad voluntarily out of the picture, Wren’s cornerman will be McSweeney, and Nelson will be coached by Darrill "Don’t Call Me Titties" Schoonover. McSweeney Inoki-slaps Wren before the fight to get him hyped.
Round 1: Wren comes forward punching, pushing the action. He rushes in with a punch combo and Nelson is rocked already. Nelson clinches to slow down the abuse, and throws some knees to Wren’s legs before Josh Rosenthal separates them. Wren charges forward and lands more punches in a flurry, but then he starts to put his hands down. Has the TUF 10 cardio curse struck again? Nelson lands a jab, and Wren returns with a cross. Wren swings at air, and McSweeney screams at him to keep his hands up and be disciplined with his punches. Nelson begins to land with more regularity as Wren slows down. Nelson with a right hand and a leg kick. Wren comes forward and they trade strikes. Nelson gets in some more punches and a leg kick. Wren chasing and whiffing as the round ends. It looked grim for Nelson early on, but he did a great job of evening the round — and of course the judges only pay attention to what happens at the end of a round.
McSweeney tells Wren to keep his hands up and his head moving. He says Wren should work the leg kicks and use his wrestling. Titties tells Nelson to throw more than one or two punches at a time. Arianny Celeste saunters by and Rampage warns Linderman not to look at his girlfriend like that.
Round 2: Nelson with a jab. Wren chases and connects with a leg kick. Nelson lands another jab, Wren gives it back, and gets in two leg kicks, but whiffs on an overhand right. Nelson settles into a groove where he’s just scoring with counter-punches and not expending as much energy as Wren. Wren shoots, Nelson clinches and defends, and Wren briefly slips to the ground. Wren lands two hard lefts, and gets in an elbow in the clinch. Nelson with a leg kick, right hook, and another leg kick. Wren returns with a jab and another good left in a flurry. Nelson works his jab, tagging Wren with ease as he comes forward. Nelson with a 1-2 to the head, and a hook to the body. Leg kick Wren, jab from Nelson. Wren lands a left, they clinch and separate, and the round ends.
They prepare for a third round; the general consensus is that Wren won the first frame and Big Country took the second. But the judges have returned a decision. "Somebody’s getting screwed," Rashad says, and it’s easy to figure out who it is. The scores are 19-19, and 20-18 twice for Roy Nelson, who takes the majority decision. There’s a lot of grumbling, but Nelson did win 75% of that fight. Dana White is still not impressed, and says he’ll give Roy props as soon as he sees him in an exciting fight that was exciting because of him. Nevertheless, Big Country is just one more win away from the finals…
I really wanted to see Country Breakfast get smashed by Wren. If Wren had only been able to put it on him like he did in the first it would’ve been a wrap. Still that decision sucked… and as it has already been mentioned — that’s what happens when you let the judges sort it out.
SUCK.
SUCK HAPPENS.