Zak Cummings TUF 17 Episode 7 Blog: Hooters and Rear Naked Chokes
With Josh Samman getting a win over Tor, it essentially gave Team Jones the last two TUF 17 match-up selections for the opening round. They decided that Clint Hester and Jimmy Quinlan would fight first, which left Dylan and myself for the last preliminary fight. After the fight, Team Jones sat in the locker room talking a little bit about Bubba having the wildcard for sure and that they felt it would be a “Jones Finale.” They then went on to tell Jon and the other coaches about the incident with Uriah calling Adam’s girlfriend a bitch, and then continued with his issues with Josh and now Collin. Collin decided that Uriah was who he wanted to fight next, and then they had words and obviously Josh was on board with it. I felt like Josh did everything in his power not to have to fight Uriah. It actually became amusing hearing his reasoning for match-ups.
Jimmy said he wanted this match-up from day one and he meant it. Ever since they picked Luke to fight first, Jimmy said he wanted to fight first and take out their number one pick Clint. He felt his powerful wrestling and grappling style would just be too much for Clint, the bigger athletic striker. Team Jones on the other hand was confident that Jimmy would be scared shitless and once Clint hit Jimmy, he would fold. Clint knew he would be taken down but he had to find a way to get back up and fight in his world.
We had an outing to the Las Vegas Hooters on this episode, which was pretty scary to bring a group of testosterone filled fighters, who have been locked up together for weeks, around these beautiful waitresses and out in the public. We had so much fun, the fights were amazing, the girls were amazing, and everyone was having a good time. Everything was going well. We were eating food, having a few drinks, and then somehow I talked Gilbert into wearing a Hooter’s shirt… I had one of the girls run and get one for him to put it on. Gilbert doing his little male stripper dance was just icing on the cake for embarrassment. We all got together for a picture and then we noticed that Uriah wouldn’t get up and come over for the pic. I really don’t know what was up, but my guess is he just wasn’t feeling it that night. I know the way Uriah gets perceived on this show is one way, and he was definitely like that to an extent but it wasn’t the whole time we there. Uriah has a big heart and is a very nice guy, he just has a different personality and it was hard for him to adapt to living with possible opponents.
Josh was having some issues after his fight with his leg. He decided to go the emergency room to get it checked out because he had issues with blood clots in the past and was just taking precautions. The doctors ran some tests and told him he was fine and no clots were found.
Jimmy shared a little information about himself growing up in a small town outside of Boston and becoming a police officer. He prides himself on being a very respectful person, which really helps in his line of work. He shared that the more respect you show, then people respect you back that much more. Unlike some officers that give the role a bad name and are only on power trips. I definitely believe that police officers are very helpful and respectful. I get along with a bunch of cops from my hometown, but it only takes one to leave a bad taste in your mouth and unfortunately the others have to deal with it. Jimmy is a monster on the ground. He has great pressure and a solid jiu jitsu game to go with it. It takes a certain type of wrestler to stop Jimmy’s takedowns especially off the fence. He is one of the best I’ve ever encountered with his takedowns against the fence.
Clint on the other hand grew up on the outskirts of Atlanta. He liked to fight growing up and he put himself in the protector roll for his friends. Clint then decided to box and after his gym closed down he moved on to Mixed Martial Arts. One thing I was very impressed with Clint was how fast he learned and was able to apply it. Most fighters take a while to apply what they just learned; Clint would do it his next round.
At the weigh-in Clint definitely was the larger man but Jimmy is much stronger than he looks. These two knew this fight was very professional; they were having a good time joking around the morning of the fight. Believe me, not everyone can do that and stay focused on the task at hand. This was a pretty intense fight if you ask me. Jimmy was not about to deal with the stand up ability of Clint and picked Clint up and took him for a ride. I was very impressed with Clint’s ability to get up, and how he was able to generate so much power in the short shots he was throwing is beyond me. Even though Jimmy kept taking Clint down he took a lot of damage in that first round. In the second round, after Clint tried to surprise Jimmy by shooting, Jimmy was able to take Clint down, secure a back mount and lock in a very tight Rear Naked Choke, forcing Clint to tapout.
Bubba, Kevin, and now Clint are all eligible for the wildcard. The episode ends with Chael Sonnen presenting Jon Jones with his Team Sonnen jersey from losing the bowling bet they had.
Next week we have the TUF 17 Coaches’ Challenge and two of the most experienced fighters are going to battle: Dylan “The Villian” – a.k.a. “nicest guy ever” – Andrews and myself. Follow me on Twitter @zakcummings, Instagram Zakcummings, and Like my facebook fan page ZakCummingsMMA
If you missed last week’s blog from Zak Cummings just click here to check it out and make sure to check back next week as he continues to blog throughout the TUF 17 season exclusively on MMAValor.
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Team Sonnen member of TUF 17, blogging each week during the season.Subscribe
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