K*Lovely's TUF 12 Recap episode 2

We are in the second week and this episode was filled with strategy, drinking, smoking, and of the course team picks. The show starts with the boys heading out to check out the new house they’ll call home for the next couple of weeks. The boys are impressed with the place and quickly race up to grab the best beds in the house. Stevens and McKenzie have no interest in that, they are distracted by the bar and decide that is the place to be. After the beds are picked naturally the next thing to do is to have a few shots, test out the pool and swap stories. They start off showing Lentz as the guy who will handle the liquor as well as the cigarettes. Apparently drinking and smoking is all part of his trickery because he says his cardio is on point. Now after this episode, I am even more convinced that I need to hang with Alex “Bruce Leroy”. He shared his stories about killing an alligator with his bare hands, wrestling a deer, and not to mention he killed it on a harmonica. He just oozes cool.


Now it’s time to get to a little business and the coaches pick their teams. They show Koscheck in the dressing room going over his picks and Michael Johnson is at the top followed by Marc Stevens. Koscheck likes Stevens because he’s cocky. Two peas in a pod right there. Now in GSP’s locker room Greg Jackson is offering him some advice. He tells GSP that if he should go with picking the first fighter, and like Koscheck he is eyeing Johnson as his first pick. Now not only is GSP super fine, he also has a brain and comes up with a good strategy to get Koscheck to waste a pick if he wins the toss and goes for 1st pick. GSP comes up with a fake list and puts Stevens on the top in big letters. At the gym GSP pretty much does everything he can to flash his list for Koscheck to see. Even Dana tells GSP that he’s flashing the list and the other team can see it. GSP tells him “It’s a strategy.” Koscheck wins the toss and opts to pick the first fighter. Silence falls for a second and Koscheck takes Marc Stevens as his first pick. DUMBASS! GSP played him like a trick pony and GSP gets Johnson, the 1st pick he wanted and he get to pick the fight. Dana gives it up to GSP and says “Well played.” Yes Dana well played indeed and just like their upcoming fight, Koscheck came up short and looked silly.

TEAM GSP: Michael Johnson, Jonathan “billy goat” Bookins (my nickname for him), Spencer Paige, Alex Caceres, Karl Watson, Cody McKenzie, Dane Sayers

TEAM KOSCHECK: Marc Stevens, Sevak Magakian, Sako Chivitchian, Andrew Main, Nam Phan, Aaron Wilkinson, Jeff Lentz

Let the training begin. First team they start off in training is GSP. He gives an awesome impression of the Sgt. Hartman speech from Full Metal Jacket. I think this is the first time we get to see just how much of a sense of humor GSP has. He explains that he believes his duties would best fit the team as a training partner and he’ll let Greg Jackson and John Danaher do the coaching. He is happy with his team and is looking forward to helping them learn new skills and improve the skills they have already.

Now Koscheck has a little different approach on his coaching tactics. Koscheck brought in Bob Cook, Daniel Cormier, and Teddy Lucio as his assistant coaches. He wants to push the guys into mindless training. His motivation for them is to win. He makes it very clear that he does not want to GSP at all, even though he has already been out smarted by him.

It’s time for GSP to pick the first fight. The first fight he picks is a doozy! He picks Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres vs. Jeff Lentz. GSP said that Alex had asked for this fight and since he seemed determined he wanted to give it to him. Koscheck is happy with this choice as well. He thinks this a good match up and that Lentz will win. You kind of get the feel that Koscheck is not giving Alex a chance in this fight. We get the normal “get to know the fighters” stuff. Alex explains that he is influenced by Bruce Lee and when he was 14 he was fortunate enough to find a gym that would let him train for free and that changed his life. He also got himself into wrestling. Lentz talks about his New Jersey pride and being that he is a Kurt Pellegrino look-a-like, it’s no surprise to me that’s who he trains with back home. Alex is doing a little sparring in the backyard with Sayers and as he puffs away on a cigarette, Lentz explains that he is not impressed. Alex dresses in a formal Chinese gi and rocks a Jedi braid that McKenzie thinks should go. Lentz changes his hair from red to blonde and the boys prepare to head out to battle

ALEX CACERES vs. JEFF LENTZ

Round 1

Alex comes out with some kicks to try and keep the distance from Lentz which works for a little while. Lentz starts in with kicks of his own and is able to push Alex up against the cage. They are both fighting for a good position against the cage and exchange a couple of knees. After a little more scrambling Alex gets on Lentz’s back and goes for a guillotine. Lentz is able to escape and the two end up on the mat here Alex goes the guillotine again. Lentz slips out of it and uses this to get Alex back up against the cage. The ref breaks them up and both fighters are back in the center. Alex continues with the kicks and Lentz decides to do the same. They continue with the kicks and throw in punches. Both of them land good shots but nothing damaging enough to finish the fight. In the final seconds of the fight Lentz gets in a sweet judo throw to end the round in a high note.

Round 2

Alex comes out again with his kicks and Lentz starts to time them and catches one and uses this to push Alex back against the cage. They scramble around for a bit and end up back on the mat but Lentz ends up on top in half guard. Alex is able to get into full guard and stop Lentz from hurting him and before you know it Alex is able to slip his legs in for a triangle. He hooks it in and Lentz lifts up and tries to slam Alex down and punch his way out of the choke but it doesn’t work. Instead of going to sleep, Lentz taps and “Bruce Leroy” prevails and moves onto the next round!!

GSP was all smiles after the fight and said he was happy to see Alex on the bottom instead of up against the cage. He knew Alex had a good triangle and could use that to win. Koscheck is disappointed and said that he saw the triangle coming. Now how can you not like Alex? Even Dana likes this kid and was happy to see him win.

Overall I thought it was a good episode and a good fight. I’m looking forward to next week’s episode. Let’s see if Team GSP can stay in control of the fights. Don’t forget folks that UFC 119 is on Saturday with a list of great fights. Make sure to check out http://wommanthoughts.blogspot.com for the TUF recaps as well as the weekly Rampage thought.

K*Lovely