With that in mind, Dana gets BJ and Jens into a room to discuss matchups for the quarterfinal matches. Shockingly, this results in tension, and breaks down into insults and threats being exchanged. Dana's and BJ's selections match up, while Jens' picks differ slightly.
What was most interesting about this entire segment was Dana's admission that the selection of these fights is done in a way that favours the fighters who are seen as the strongest, and designed in such a way as to ensure that those fighters meet in the finals. While this may seem obvious, I found it interesting that Dana would admit to the subjective/manipulated/worked nature of the UFC (and the fight business in general).
Dana, BJ, and Jens each have their own opinions about the fighters on the show, and those opinions influence the matchups they decide on. Fights are not selected based on how entertaining they will be for the fans, or how two different fighters' styles matchup, but instead are selected based on what will make it easier for the preferred fighters to advance. In this case, the preferred fighters are Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Grey Maynard and Matt Wiman. Or, BJ's three survivors and one of Jens' fighters. In declaring these four fighters to be the favorites, Dana is making it clear that Corey Hill, Manny Gamburyan, Brandon Melendez and Cole Miller are going to be put into situations where it will be particularly difficult for them to advance.
The four quarterfinal fights are announced as:
- Cole Miller v. Joe Lauzon
- Gray Maynard v Brandon Melendez
- Nate Diaz v. Corey Hill
- Matt Wiman v. Manny Gamburyan
After the selections are made, we go back to the house, where the fighters are relaxing around the fire pit. Marlon 'Street Fighter' Sims is discussing why he and Wayne Weems are better losers than Noah Thomas and Allen Berube, because neither Weems nor Sims tapped out, while Noah and Allen did. Much of this discussion stems from Noah and Marlon's desire to face one another at the finale, and is clearly an attempt to set up some backstory for that matchup.
The discussion gets more heated, and Marlon tosses the chair Noah is sitting in. Shirts and mikes are removed, and Allen Berube takes on the role of Big John McCarthy, getting the middle of the two and telling them to 'get it ON,' while reassuring them that they won't get kicked out of the house.
Marlon gives Noah the first punch, and, much as he did in his fight against Matt Wiman, sticks his chin out for Noah to hit. Noah takes the bait, although the punch he throws is pulled and doesn't do as much damage as it could. They wrestle and scuffle, with Marlon taking Noah down, and almost cracking Noah's skull on the edge of the rock garden when he does so. While all this is going on, the rest of the gang stand around cheering and clearing potential hazards such as glass bottles out of the way.
The two break up, and Marlon says he doesn't want to do anymore because he doesn't want to get kicked out. Noah takes the opportunity to kick Marlon in the head. The fighting begins anew, and Noah goes for an armbar from the bottom. Unfortunately, Marlon is on his feet, and he elevates Noah and drops him on his head. Twice. Shockingly, Noah is bleeding, and a little upset that Marlon would do this to him while Noah was only trying to break Marlon's arm.
Eventually everyone settles down, with Nate Diaz likening the incident to the Lord of the Flies, and Cole Miller describing it as "the most technical streetfight he has ever seen."
The next day,
Allen 'Monstah Lobstah' is preparing some seafood when the door to the house opens and Dana comes in, not looking happy. He calls all the fighters for a meeting in the living room where Dana unleashes another patented Dana f-bomb diatribe, where he derides Marlon and Noah for setting back the cause of all those who have sought to legitimize MMA and have struggled against the stigma of the sport as 'human cockfighting' (also go here) as everyone's favorite POW, John McCain has called it. Dana also includes the rest of the house in his rant, taking umbrage with the fact that they all stood around watching and cheering. When his speech is done, Dana makes two expected announcements, kicking Marlon and Noah out of the house, and one rather unexpected one, kicking Monstah Lobstah out for the part he played in the unpleasantness. This is now four people who have been kicked out of the house. We now move on to the sanctioned fight portion of the evening, as Cole prepares to face Joe.
The first round is fairly good, with Cole using his long legs to avoid being dominated on the ground, although Joe is the clear winner of the first round. In the second round, Joe gets a warning for punching Cole in the back of the head. Shortly thereafter, Joe nails Cole in the back of the head with an elbow, earning a one point penalty, and giving Cole a chance to recover. After being examined by the doctor, Cole says he is able to continue, and the fight resumes.
Unfortunately, Cole doesn't seem to have the same fire he had before the elbow, and Joe starts to dominate. Eventually Joe has Cole's back, and starts ground n pounding till the ref calls the fight.
The Good
- Before the elbow, Cole and Joe had a good fight going.
The Bad
- As entertaining as it was, the fight between Marlon and Noah was an example of hypermasculinity at its worst. More importantly, it is a demonstration of the problems inherent in these reality programs, where people are put into unreal situations and told to behave normally. In this case, they are trapped in a house with strangers/competitors, and given no outlets for release. Add alcohol, boredom and a culture of violence, and you have all the ingredients for bad things.
- Dana kicked out Allen Berube for his role in the fight, but shouldn't he have kicked out everyone who was there? Or did he only want to kick out eliminated fighters?
- Now that we know that Dana sees all the footage from the house, how can we be sure that the comments from the fighters are accurate reflections of their opinions? Not only because Dana can edit what they say to ensure that only messages he wants getting out are included, but isn't it possible that people will censor themselves in order to ensure that they don't get Dana angry with them?
The Ugly
- After the fight, Dana told Cole that he should never continue a fight if he doesn't feel like he is physically capable of doing so. But does this accurately reflect Dana's opinion, or just what Dana wants the Athletic Commisions to hear and see from him? Earlier in the episode, Dana admitted that Joe Lauzon is one of the fighters he wants to see in the finals. And as we saw with the Corey Hill/Gabe Reudiger situation, Dana will manipulate situations in order to get his desired result. Is it possible that Dana encourages fighters to continue, rather than take a DQ victory? Even if that sort of encouragement isn't explicit, isn't it implicit in the culture of masculinity that pervades the UFC? It is a situation similar to Vince McMahon's "wellness policy." While technically wrestler's are not supposed to use performance enhancing substances, time and again we see wrestlers with oversized physiques rewarded with title runs and main event pushes. Which is the actual policy? The one that is written down, or the one that is communicated behind closed doors, and in the actions and decisions of those with power?
Next week, Gray Maynard v. Brandon Melendez. Gray prepares by training with Randy Couture. Brandon prepares by arguing with Jens.
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