After an entertaining debut that saw a bevy of vicious knockouts and crafty submissions (not to mention a slugfest straight out of a Leonard Garcia fight), The Ultimate Fighter (TUF): "Brazil" is about to get down to the nitty-gritty in its second episode this evening (April 1, 2012).
Teams will be picked. Rivalries will form. And assorted shenanigans will undoubtedly ensue ... possibly in a clothing-optional manner.
MMAmania will provide complete coverage of TUF: "Brazil" episode two as soon as it is released online (ufc.com/tuftv), which should be around midnight ET this evening.
Which psychopathic knockout machine -- coaches Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort -- will pick the victorious stable of fighters? Who will emerge as the class clown of the season? Who will be the first Brazilian to be filmed running naked outside the TUF house?
Join us after the jump and find out as we prepare for the next exciting episode of TUF: "Brazil:"
Patrick here; nothing has happened yet. Pretend I'm saying something witty to keep you entertained until we get to the subtitled face-punching.
Arright, WE. AAAAARE (not) LIVE.
Handy reminder of the different fighters' names in the intro, set to what I suspect to be the TUF 11 themesong in Portuguese.
We're treated to a showcase of the house, which is pretty darn lavish. Beautiful landscape, nice furniture, good-looking pool. They've even got some nice artwork on the wall and a heavy bag.
Even Foosball. Swanky.
Gasparzinho decides he'd rather not sleep on a top bunk and drags his mattress out of the room into the middle of the hall. Vina refers to him as their source of entertainment.
Guess we know who the class clown is this season.
Delson Heleno is the first one to mention missing his family, although with how comfortable some of those lawn chairs look, I'm sure he'll survive.
Slow-motion entrance into the gym as we get ready for team selection. Dana gives them another pep talk and announces bonuses for best fighter, knockout, and submission of the season.
Coin flip to determine who gets the first pick of fighter or matchup. Coin flies through the air dramatically and Wanderlei wins. Wanderlei wants the first fighter, on the logic that the best fighter will win the tournament.
TEAM WANDERLEI:
Featherweight: Rony "Jason" Mariano, John "Macapa" Teixeira, Marcos Vinicius "Vina", Wagner "Galeto" Campos
Middleweight: Delson "Pe de Chumbo" Heleno, Francisco "Massaranduba" Drinaldo, Renee Forte, Leonardo Teixeira
TEAM VITOR:
Featherweight: Hugo "Wolverine" Viana, Rodrigo Damm, Godofredo "Pepey" de Oliveira, "Gasparzinho"
Middleweight: Cezar "Mutante" Ferreira, Daniel Sarafian, Thiago Perpetuo, Sergio Moraes
Gasparzinho is not happy with being the final overall pick. He lets Vitor know this, and Vitor assures him that even though he has history with Mutante, he respects all of them
Wanderlei's team vows to break everything and win by knockout.
Commercial break.
Short clips of the guys enjoying the amenities of the house. Gasparzinho is annoyed because he was given the wrong sized shirts, but it turns out he just picked up Hugo Viana's bag by mistake.
For clarity, and since that's what they use on the show, I'm going to stick with nicknames from now on.
Man, that lawn is beautiful.
The guys load up on the vans for the first day of practice. We get to see Wanderlei shaving his arms, for those of you who were wondering about the Axe Murder's hygiene habits.
Please tell me it's not just me.
Wanderlei says he'll focus on discipline, and announces that his squad will be going back to basics for the first day. Rafael Cordeiro, in a move that probably didn't please the squad, forbids boozing while in the house.
Cordeiro and Andre "Dida" are the striking coaches, Fabricio Werdum the BJJ coach, and Babalu Sobral is in charge of wrestling for Team Wanderlei. They look like they had a good practice, and now it's Team Vitor's turn.
Vitor, like Wanderlei, emphasizes that his squad are like family.
Luiz Dorea is the Team Belfort boxing coach; K-1 legend Francisco Filho is on kickboxing duty. Former Olympian Rodrigo Artilheiro is the wrestling instructor. Three-time champion Gilbert Durinho covers the grappling.
Team Vitor apparently doesn't think highly of Wanderlei's intelligence, criticizing him for taking the first fighter instead of the first matchup. Rumor has it that Sergio Moraes and Massaranduba will go at it.
FIRST FIGHT: Galeto vs. Pepey. Vitor says that he selected it because of how terrible Galeto's elimination fight went. Wanderlei says Pepey is the number one guy they want to beat.
Referring to himself in the third person, Galeto describes himself as dedicated, even though he isn't the most skilled. He tears up as he describes the importance of his daughters, wife, brother, and mother to him. He wants to present an image of a fighter who isn't just some scary brawler, to emphasize the importance of family.
Ouch; right in my warm and fuzzies.
Wanderlei speaks highly of Galeto's heart and aggression, although Galeto reveals to Silva that his thigh isn't in great condition. Galeto, however, vows never to give up in order to impart that lesson to his daughters.
Vitor describes the mohawked Pepey as a good listener, but stubborn. The latter says he's fighting for himself, Ivan Drago-style, because he loves MMA and competing. He talks about his tough childhood and how important his mother is to him, especially since his father didn't initially support his MMA endeavors. Like Galeto, he tears up when describing his family.
Good to know these guys' hearts are in the right place.
Commercial break.
Weigh-in time.
Galeto is at 65.85 kg, Pepey is at 66.10. In English units, it's just around 145 for both men.
The coaches call a meeting and announce that they received a message from Ford saying that they're looking for the toughest fighter, and that the one they decide is the toughest deserves a tough truck to match.
To win the Ford Ranger, the fighter must be in the final four and have the shortest combined fight time. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Fight day.
Jose Aldo makes an appearance, announcing that he'll be watching the bout. Aldo encourages the fighters to listen to their coaches and do their best.
Galeto calls for a knockout. Pepey, six years younger, says he'll finish it in the first round. Pepey has the height and reach advantage.
Let's do this.
Godofredo "Pepey" de Oliveira vs. Wagner "Galeto" Campos
Galeto southpaw, Pepey orthodox. Both men feinting in the early going. Telegraphed shot from Pepey gets sprawled on, and Galeto hurls him to the ground before disengaging. Another shot with no setup from Pepey is equally unsuccessful; Galeto seems content to play the counter game. High kick from Pepey is blocked. Pepey rushes in with punches and they trade knees to the clinch. Wild rush from Pepey, who gets Galeto to the fence and pulls guard. Pepey has an overhook briefly, but loses it as Galeto lands small shots to the body and head before returning to his feet. Another wild rush and takedown attempt from Pepey, no luck. His striking technique is just awful, but Galeto isn't capitalizing. Brief clinch, Pepey thinks about pulling guard but decides against it. First real attack from Galeto is an overhand right that falls way short. Another wild rush by Pepey culminates in a right hook that clips Galeto and sends him down. The two engage in a brief leglock trade before Galeto works his way up and Pepey pulls guard. 10-9 Pepey on damage.
Vitor tells Pepey to fight with respect, keep his hands up and stay mobile.
Second round. Brief punch exchange initiated by Pepey. No urgency from Galeto despite losing the first round. Pepey badly whiffs on a right hand. Feinting now and Pepey lands a left before eating a body shot. Brutal kick to the junk sends Galeto to the canvas; the clock is apparently still running. Don't ask me why. They're back at it, having lost fifteen seconds or so. Hard inside low kick by Pepey leads to a sloppy exchange, Galeto coming out ahead. Another whiff from Pepey; even if he wins, the strikers in the house have to be licking their lips after this. Blocked high kick by Pepey, who lands a nice right straight before a clinch knee jacks Galeto in the balls. Yamasaki warns that the next time, he'll take a point. Sloppy striking by both men. Two minutes to go and Pepey lands some solid, but ugly blows in the clinch. Galeto nearly takes himself off his feet with a ridiculously poor overhand. Ugly swings from Pepey connect, Galeto responds with a decent blow to the body. Nice leg kick from Pepey. Galeto rushes in with punches in the last ten seconds, but can't connect.
Judges rightly give the decision to Pepey. While he looked pretty poor, Galeto just didn't do anything. Wanderlei expresses the opinion that Galeto won the second round, bemoaning the fact that a point wasn't taken for the low blows. Pepey bows to Galeto in respect before joining his team to celebrate.
First blood: Vitor.
Vitor demands that his team cheer respectfully and not toss about rude nicknames. Good on him.
Galeto, sobbing, again affirms that he'll never give up. Wanderlei's squad cheers for him.
Vitor still has control of the picks, and it'll be in the middleweight division.
Join us next week as team rivalries begin to brew and Gasparzinho gets on people's nerves (with streaking).
Thank God for pixellation.
Anyway, that's all, folks. Catch you next Sunday, same Bat-time, same Bat-website.
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