TUF 15 Episode 1 Recap: We are LIVE!
The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV has been a staple of mixed martial arts for 7 years, and in that time frame we’ve seen pretty much everything. Chris Leben entered our hearts with some smack talking, glass punching, and a little bit of pee. Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz brought the term “bad blood” to a whole new level. Dave Kaplan thought it was a good idea to a take a flush shot to the jaw from Tom Lawlor, which was incredibly entertaining. Junie Browning… I don’t really have to explain that one do I? Dustin Pague decided to eat some bugs. Oh yea, and there was probably some fighting in there somewhere too.
However, with a switch to a new station (Spike to FX) came a switch in format. In the first 14 seasons there was one common factor in each go round’, the episodes were prerecorded. Combatants would stay in the TUF house for short time period, and film enough footage to last throughout a 12 episode season. This season will be live, and each episode will contain footage from the fighters training, and interacting in the house throughout the week. Another wrinkle thrown in by Zuffa is the coaches involved this season. Each season so far has contained coaches that compete at a weight class above 155lbs. Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber (the champion and #1 contender at 135lbs) will break that rule this season. They’re long standing dislike for one another didn’t show through in the first show, but it hopefully will provide some fireworks in the weeks to come.
Because of the new live format each qualifying fight in the first episode will only be 1 round. That made for some exciting finishes, and easily controlled rounds for good wrestlers. Although it could have been a little bit more exciting (8 finishes in 16 fights with 2 of those stoppages being questionable) this season still looks promising. Cristiano Marcello’s BJJ looks nasty. Justin Lawrence showed off his Black house training in absolutely obliterating James Krause. Mike Rio’s wrestling and control were dominant in defeating Ali Maclean by submission, and a few more performances were worth the view. Nobody looks to be far and above the pack so this season should be very evenly matched.
Results of each fight below:
Joe Proctor defeats Jordan Rinaldi by Guillotine choke
Cristiano Marcello defeats Jared Carlsten by Rear naked choke (RNC)
Sam Sicilia defeats Erin Beach by Knockout (KO) (Early stoppage by Josh Rosenthal)
Chris Tickle defeats Austin Lyons by KO (Another early stoppage, this time by Steve Mazzagati)
Andy Ogle defeats Brendan Weafer by Unanimous Decision (UD)
Vinc Pichel defeats Cody Pfister by RNC
John Cofer defeats Mark Glover by UD
Chris Saunders defeats Chase Hackett by UD
James Vick defeats Dakota Cochrane by Split Decision (SD)
Michael Chiesa defeats Johnavan Vistante by RNC
Mike Rio defeats Ali Maclean by RNC
Justin Lawrence defeats James Krause by KO
Daron Cruickshank defeats Drew Dober by UD
Jeremy Larsen defeats Jeff Smith by UD
Al Iaquinta defeats Jon Tuck by UD
Myles Jury defeats Akbarh Arreola by UD
