K*Lovely's TUF 12 Recap episode 3

On the previous episode we saw GSP use trickery to get the first pick he wanted and we saw “Bruce Leroy” become victorious and advance to the next round. This show opens with Lentz and Caceres back at the house sharing in a post fight drink. Lentz seems to take his loss like a man. Alex on the other hand is doing some bragging and explaining how the kicks to the head hit his afro so he didn’t feel them. This seems to get under the skin of his housemates. I mean really….the kid is only 21 and came to the house with a gimmick. What were you expecting, maturity?


The show moves on to the training, and its Team GSP that is up first. GSP is happy with the win but says that winning is not the only thing he is there for. He says that the guys on his team are already great fighters, but he wants to transform them into martial artist. To help with this transformation he brings in Gia Sissaouri to help with their wrestling. He wanted his team to experience what it was like to train with a world class athlete. The way they showed him tossing the team around, I’m sure it was quite an experience for all of them but also a great lesson.

Now, it’s time for Team Koscheck’s training. Koscheck feels that after the loss, the team needs to regroup and get ready mentally. As he says this they show the team losing momentum. They are complaining about being tired, needing potty breaks, getting their ass kicked in training….blah, blah, blah. Suck it up boys, after 12 seasons you should already know it’s not easy. This attitude sparks a Koscheck speech to the team. The speech works and you see the team kick into high gear for the rest of the training.

Fight pick time! Gsp goes with his number 1 pick- Michael Johnson and the opponent they choose is Aaron Wilkinson. During the stare down Wilkinson continued to touch his nose. I didn’t understand that. Is that a fighter thing? GSP states that Johnson is the best athlete on the team and feels that the fighters’ styles will match up well. Wilkinson, as well as Koscheck, feels the other team is underestimating him. Wilkinson believes he is a better striker and is better on the ground than Johnson.

Now in this episode we see the practical joke played by the coaches. I think Koscheck wins the award for the LAMEST joke in TUF history. The only joy & laughter I got from this joke was hearing GSP cuss in that cute accent of his. Koscheck thought it would be funny to have the team park their cars close enough to GSP’s car on both sides so that he couldn’t get in. Well, plan failed. GSP was able to maneuver his way into his car. Somehow Koscheck thought this trick would get into GSP’s head. WRONG KOSCHECK!!! You better keep training because it’s going to take more than that lame joke to mess with GSP’s game.

How would you like to have enough pull to tell Dana that you’d like to have Mike Tyson come in and talk with your team? Well, GSP has that kind of pull. No need to toot your own horn GSP, I’ll toot it for you…toot toot!! Dana delivers and brings Tyson to the training center. When Tyson walks into Johnson’s dressing room you see everyone’s face light up. GSP talks about how Tyson was his idol growing up & how he used to play Mike Tyson’s Punchout. Johnson is honored to have him there and it motivates him even more to get the win. Unfortunately, Koscheck doesn’t have that kind of pull so Wilkinson only has his team to help motivate him. I did see Jon Fitch sitting in his dressing room though, so that’s a plus.

Michael Johnson vs. Aaron Wilkinson

Round 1

They come out and Johnson shows a couple of fake moves and then hits with a leg kick. He seems to get the control pretty early. They both start to exchange punches & get a few kicks in. Johnson lands a punch that pushes Wilkinson against the fence. Johnson gets a takedown but Wilkinson quickly gets up and the fighters are back in the center of the ring. They continue to have an even amount of punches and kicks. When Johnson goes in for another kick Wilkinson catches his foot and uses that to push Johnson up against the fence but he can’t keep him there. Johnson gets a nice takedown in the center of the ring but Wilkinson is getting up as Johnson is trying to get his back for a choke. Wilkinson scores his own takedown and starts landing some elbows and punches. You can see it on Johnson’s face, that is not a position he’s not comfortable with. Johnson does a pretty good job of protecting himsef but the round ends with Wilkinson on top.

Round 2

They start the round pretty much the same as the previous one. Johnson lands a nice punch to Wilkinson’s face and they are back up against the fence. They both deliver some knees and as Wilkinson moves away from the fence, Johnson lands some good body shots. They briefly clinch and Johnson gets a takedown and goes for a rear naked choke but can’t sink it. Wilkinson escapes but eats some punches doing so. Wilkinson starts to put the pressure on Johnson and he gets another takedown. He lands more elbows but this time around Johnson gets up much quicker. Once again the fighters are back to the stand up and Johnson is goes for another takedown. He gets Wilkinson against the fence and starts kneeing his legs. Wilkinson attempts a takedown but Johnson is able to stop it from happening. They end the round swinging. The judges score it and we are headed into a third round.

Round 3

In this round Johnson comes out with fire and is striking and Wilkinson goes down. Johnson is all over him as he drops and starts to nail him with the ground and pound. As Wilkinson struggles to escape he gives up his back and Johnson hooks in a rear naked choke for the win. Team GSP remains in control.

Koscheck felt that Wilkinson had controlled the fight and had won both rounds but the judges didn’t see it that way. It’s always heartbreaking to see the fighters come to tears after a tough loss. Koscheck gave Wilkinson a lot of credit for fighting his heart out when no one had given him a chance to win. I think his words were great comfort after a hard fight. There is always the wild card spot, so never count yourself out.

Well that wraps up another good episode of TUF. Next week looks to be just as good, as we see clips of “Bruce Leroy” pushing Sevak to the edge and of course we see another fight. Will GSP stay in control or will Team Koscheck come out with their first win?

Don’t forget tonight is the WEC Aldo vs. Gamburyan fight on Versus. There is so many great fights on this card and I’m excited.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, predictions, etc. You can always find us on Twitter (@woMMAn) with weigh in & fight updates. Check out http://wommanthoughts.blogspot.com on Mondays for the weekly Rampage thought and of course go back there or http://fisttacuff.com every Wednesday for a new TUF 12 recap. Keep it real people and see ya next week!



K*Lovely