TUF weekly recap by NOS® Energy Drink

What a fight! What a fight! What a fight!

Episode 10 of Season 21 of “The Ultimate Fighter” featured one of the most action-packed fights we have seen.

Though American Top Team entered the contest down 300-100 in points after losing seven of the nine fights (only Hayder Hassan won for them), veteran Nathan Coy beat Baby Monster by unanimous decision after grounding-and-pounding his way to victory.

In addition to an awesome fight, this episode also featured the harshest trash talk between the coaches that we have seen.

“At the end of the day, I think Dan Lambert’s a piece of crap,” Blackzilians owner Glenn Robinson said early in the episode. “He has to still live with the humiliation through nine fights, so I feel good about that. Says I’m known as a thief and a crook, according to Dan.”

ATT’s Lambert responded in an equally harsh manner.

“Newsflash, Glenn: You didn’t build a team; you bought a team. And there’s a difference. I got another newsflash for you: they’re hookers. Instead of paying them to have sex with you, you pay them to go fight. You give them credit when they win because that’s how you get your rocks off.”

Ouch.

Things remained heated between them at the weigh-in. The Blackzilians chose Baby Monster (Valdir Araujo) to fight again because of his superior standup. ATT went with Coy, but it wasn’t without controversy.

Robinson accused ATT of having two fighters ready to go depending on whom they chose. He saw Sabah Homasi rehydrate as soon as the Blackzilians announced Baby Monster was going to fight. ATT even admitted Hamasi was also cutting weight just in case, but the Blackzilians owner felt ATT was preparing Hamasi for the old switcheroo in case they chose Jason Jackson. Lambert even challenged Robinson to a grappling match to settle things, but that didn’t happen.

Instead, we got Baby Monster vs. Coy, and Baby Monster did not stick to his plan.

Prior to the fight he said he knew Coy could be dangerous if he took the fight to the ground.

“That’s the only way I can see him winning,” said Baby Monster of Coy’s chances.

Contrarily, Baby Monster wanted to maintain his distance and keep things standing up. He wasn’t able to accomplish his goal.

There was a ton of action to start the fight as soon as the bell rang. Baby Monster made one bad move and Coy made him pay. Coy caught Baby Monster’s leg on a kick attempt and used that to slam Baby Monster to the ground. From there, it was all ground and pound. Baby Monster remained on his back and tried to use his jiu-jitsu to get a submission, but he had no luck. He kept trying to escape but Coy held him on the ground. Baby Monster finally escaped with 18 seconds left in the round, but by then Coy had already commanded the entire round.

In the second round, Baby Monster came out dangerous. He landed a flying kick that sent Coy down, and then he went in to end the fight. Baby Monster put Coy in a guillotine and had it locked tightly. Coy tried to escape and barely did, but Baby Monster continued to pepper him with strikes and tried for another submission. Coy somehow got out and gained top control. He successfully kept Baby Monster from getting up. He reversed and attempted a submission, but Baby Monster escaped. At that point the round still looked like Baby Monster’s, but then Coy changed things. Coy took the fight back down and regained control, holding Baby Monster up against the cage. He continued his ground and pound and wouldn’t let Baby Monster go. Though Baby Monster probably won the first two minutes of the round, Coy won the last three and all three judges gave him the round.

The judges saw the fight the same way and awarded Coy with a unanimous decision. His ground and pound was relentless.

Blackzilians coach Rashad Evans summed up Baby Monster’s problem: “you can’t play jiu-jitsu with a wrestler.”

Team owner Glenn Robinson recognized the same issue.

“Baby Monster fought the wrong fight. He should have kept the fight standing.”

Credit Coy with a great performance. He is only the second fighter from his team to win, and he deserves some recognition for his tireless effort that brought ATT back into the competition.

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Below is the NOS® performance replay from the fight: