With the first season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) underway, the revamped show proves to be a successful mix of pre-recorded action and live fights.
This episode focused on the team selection and subsequent battle to be first to get inside each other’s heads by winning the first fight and gaining control of the next pick.
Coaches Urijah Faber (26-5) and Dominick Cruz (19-1) are no strangers, they have fought twice previously, both in title bouts and they share a mutual dislike for each other.
For Cruz it took only one episode to successfully get into Faber’s head, not with name calling or silly pranks which are rife in previous TUF seasons, but by picking his number one, and the heavy favourite to win the tournament, Justin Lawrence to battle it out live on next weeks show and expose Team Faber.
Cruz initially won the pick due to a fight-ending KO from team member James Vick over Team Faber contestant Daron Cruickshank at 2:16 in the first round, when Vick timed a right knee into the oncoming head of Cruickshank leaving him out cold.
For Cruickshank this is a bitter loss, having to not only spend the next 12 or so weeks within the house but to do so without any chance of winning the UFC contract and Tapout sponsorship at the end.
There is a chance that he can get back into the game if another fighter becomes injured and is no longer able to continue.
By Cruz choosing his number one pick in Lawrence was a surprise in itself, but then turned the game on it’s head by putting Faber on the spot, telling him him to pick a contender from his own team.
Firstly, it seemed that control had landed back into Urijah’s hands since the ability to choose the fighters is, and has been proven to be, instrumental to the TUF game in previous seasons. The options provided to Faber were to place his best in the cage and risk losing them early in the game, or to throw one of his weakest links and risk being critized by his team.
Faber did neither and put the question to his own team in the hope of a volunteer. When no one was interested in stepping up and taking the fight, Cruz took matters in his own hands, and chose fellow favourite Cristiano Marcello. This fight will be shown live on next weeks show.
There was no name calling or snide remarks by Cruz as he played this out, with the exception of asking which of Faber’s team would be the “Alpha Male” (a comment made in reference to the team Faber trains with), but rather Cruz played the game to his advantage and hit Faber right where it counts.
The question is whether this will selection will pay off for Cruz.
By putting in his strongest fighter, Cruz risks losing Lawrence in the game early on, but by the reaction of Team Faber, it seems that there is a fear surrounding the 21 year old Team Blackhouse fighter which may see the fight won before they step into the cage.
Marcello shouldn’t be second guessed however, he is the former Chute Boxe Academy BJJ head coach and worked with the likes of Wanderlei Silva and Shogun Rua. To get into the house, he defeated Jared Carlsten at 2:43 in round 1 by rear naked choke submission.
Marcello’s professional experience of 15-3 certainly gives him an advantage, however the same could have been said for fighter James Krause, who Lawrence beat to get into the house at 1:25 in round 1 by TKO.
This fight is definitely an intriguing one to have so early in the game, for many this would have been the preferred finale fight. The ability for Cruz to get inside Faber’s head in a strategic (and possible detrimental) way should have Team Faber pulling out all stops to try and gain control back of the game.
TV Guide: Australia: 1pm AEDT Saturday on Fuel TV.
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