Tonight's episode of
The Ultimate Fighter was like the premiere episodes of any other season. Because of the new format from
UFC president Dana White, where every fighter had to win an initial first round match to gain access to the
Ultimate Fighter house, tonight's third episode saw the coaches pick their teams. We didn't get much of a read on why
Rampage Jackson and Forest Griffin made the choices they made, but then again, we don't really know any of these fighter at this point. The first Round of 16 fight of the season was kind of a clunker, but that's to be expected out of the opening few fights.
The episode begins with the captains choosing their teams. Rampage wins the coin flip and opts to pick first. Forest gets to choose the first fight. This season, the team that wins each fight chooses the next fight. These are the teams, in order of where they were picked.
Team Rampage:
CB Dalloway
Matt Brown
Paul Bradley
Dan Cramer
Gerald Harris
Mike Dolce
Jeremy May
Brandon Sene
Team Griffin:
Tim Credeur
Amir Sadollah
Jesse Taylor
Matthew Riddle
Cale Yarbrough
Dante Rivera
Nick Klein
Luke Zacharich
Paul Bradley, from Team Rampage, has a problem. After the first fight, he had an outbreak of herpes on his neck. And, yes, it's as gross as it sounds. They bring in a dermatologist to take a look. Herpes, indeed. And, he's contagious. Dana brings Paul into the office and tells him the bad news. He has to go home. It's brutal to watch – Dan hates that he has to do this ti Paul, who has done nothing wrong. Rampage decides to bring back Patrick Schultz, who immediately joins the training with Team Rampage.
Rampage, while not the smartest dude in the world, is a cool guy. And funny. He's not much of a coach, or so he says, but he immediately earns the respect of his team. The first night, he actually goes to The Ultimate Fighter house and hangs out with his guys and builds each of them up. Rampage is going to make good television this season.
The fight announcement comes, and Forest decides to pit his own Jesse Taylor against Rampage's Mike Dolce.
Dolce is simply over matched. In the first round he comes out fast and furious, but Jesse takes in in stride and takes Mike to the ground. The rest of the round stays there, with Dolce scrambling to avoid a tap out. In the second round, he's not so lucky. After a couple minutes, Jesse wins with a rear naked choke.
Does Mike Dolce have a future in the UFC?
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of UFC)