Zak Cummings TUF 17 Episode 5 Blog: The Upset
With Collin’s win over Kevin during last week’s TUF 17 episode, Team Jones gained control of the fight pick. Bubba who was the most experienced in the house picked out Kelvin who was the youngest in the house. We actually thought this was going to be the first matchup in week one, but they went after Luke instead. Kelvin was so sure he was fighting he actually ran out to the face-off in week one. Chael got a hold of Ronda Rousey, since Kelvin and the rest of us were big fans and she told Kelvin good luck and if he wins this fight she will come out to Vegas and teach a session for us. So, of course we were all hammering Kelvin pretty hard and giving him a hard time about getting Ronda here. Some of the guys thought this was a pretty cheap matchup on Jon and Bubba’s part but it’s a tournament, there is only one winner. Everyone has to be confident that they can win any fight they’re given. Kelvin was the youngest, and one of the least experienced fighters but he is a very tough kid: fast, good hands, and solid grappling. I personally felt Bubba was the favorite but I knew that he couldn’t take Kelvin lightly either. Kelvin has the tools to beat anyone.
The night Chael and the other coaches came over was an absolute blast. It really meant a lot to me that night because that was my first wedding anniversary and I was stuck in a house with a bunch of guys and couldn’t even call my wife. This was the only time that being away kind of hit me. BUT Chael came over and cooked dinner for the entire house; we sat down and ate together, had some good conversations and then played some charades. This was a ridiculous game of charades, my face was hurting so bad from laughing all night. They showed a few on the episode but they probably could have made an entire show just about the game. We had Jimmy doing a perfect impression of Coach Clayton, Gilbert had Finding Nimo, which was hilarious, Chael stepping behind the cameras so he could act out “Having an Orgy” was priceless, and the best by far was Luke’s impression of Chael throwing a spinning backfist and falling over. We had a lot of fun that night! Bubba was off by himself, sleeping, and around the fires. Bubba is a very large 185lber and he really struggled to keep his weight down throughout this tournament.
Kelvin just turned 21 a few days before we had the fights to get into the house, which makes him the youngest competitor ever in The Ultimate Fighter. Kelvin is a very solid wrestler who has very good boxing and the coaches were building a game plan for Kelvin to use a lot of movement with his boxing to win this fight. Another huge aspect of our team was the insight Chael gave us. He is amazingly mentally strong and he shared many insights with us that helped most of the guys on our team. Then we had a special guest come in to talk to us. Mickey Rourke came in to talk to both teams and he had some really good things to say. Mickey has been at the top and dropped to the bottom and had to overcome adversity. It was nice to hear a little bit about his story and how he pushed through.
Going into the fight both these guys felt very confident. As a team, this was a matchup we really liked and felt Kelvin had a legitimate shot to win. I really enjoyed watching this fight. Kelvin came out with some solid jabs and head movement and once they hit the ground both guys showed good ground skills with sweeps and submission attempts. Bubba scared us a few times with some close armbar attempts and taking Kelvin’s back but Kelvin fought hard and wouldn’t stay down. Kelvin ends the round with a fly squirrel punch to Bubba’s chin and round one could have went to either guy. Round two starts with Kelvin landing a solid leg kick and Bubba completely slipping a throw attempt, putting Kelvin on top. Bubba did a great job throughout this fight of baiting a guillotine to a butterfly sweep but Kelvin finally quit biting and kept position on top. Kelvin worked his way to Bubba’s back and slipped in a rear naked choke and actually put him to sleep, then Bubba came to and tapped. This was one of the biggest upsets in TUF history. After the fight, Bubba was very hard on himself but he gave a lot of credit to Kelvin. Kelvin was on top of the world and after another call from Ronda to congratulate him he was on cloud nine. He performed very well and proved that he belonged in that house.
Team Darkside kept control of the fight picks and Chael matched Tor Troeng against Josh Samman. This fight is between some of the biggest guns in the house, both of these guys are well respected and many of us knew the winner of this fight could make it to the TUF 17 Finale.
If you missed last week’s blog from Zak Cummings just click here to check it out. Make sure to follow Zak on Twitter and check back next week as he continues to blog throughout the TUF 17 season exclusively on MMAValor.
Category: Blog, Exclusive, Featured, MMA, UFC, Ultimate Fighter
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Team Sonnen member of TUF 17, blogging each week during the season.Subscribe
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