The Ultimate Fighter 10 Episode 8

In the latest episode of Spike’s The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, coach Rampage Jackson was down to his final fighter, the massive gentle giant and ex pro football player, Marcus Jones, who would square up against Mike Wessel. Marcus is a massive man, who could no doubt tear most men apart, but he presents as a big kid, given the nickname Big Baby. So, the only question was does this guy have the killer instinct to compete in the UFC? Well, he didn’t until someone wrote a cartoon about him being a big baby, posted it on his door, and then his opponent wrote that he “sucks balls.” Now he was pissed. Good job, Mike! You gave Marcus the last piece of the puzzle he needed, getting angry, and Marcus ended up with what was probably the most impressive victory of the show, with every move he made something that he learned along the way. This guy loves to learn, and Rampage, who seems to be getting more hands-on in the training, finally, since he only has one fighter left, did a spot-on impression of Marcus giggling like a little kid when he learns something new. Big Baby absolutely loves the sport, and with his size, enthusiasm, and dedication, he could do some serious, serious damage.

After the fight, Marcus, along with all the other fighters, was given the chance to say who he would like to fight, and because he is such a nice guy, he deferred to his coach to let Rampage pick his opponent. Rampage Jackson decided he would like to see his fighter go up against the man he calls Titties. Darill “Titties” Schoonover and Rampage have had a strained relationship, and in this episode, Rampage came up to him to burry the hatchet, and Darill seemed to accept his apology, until Rampage grabbed one of Darill’s breasts and smiled in the camera. That’s when Darill got in his face, and again challenged him to a fight. Probably because of his own feud and more than likely having nothing to do with actual strategy, Coach Jackson chose for Marcus to get in the octagon with Darill. Come on, Rampage! Don’t let your beef about you bullying some kid trying to make a name for himself impact your decision that should have been based on who Marcus has the best chance of beating. Why not have him fight the fat, pasty Roy Nelson? There’s no way Roy could go the distance with Big Baby with the kind of conditioning work Marcus has been doing, always saturated in sweat and damn near throwing up at workouts, as opposed to Roy who . . . is still really, really fat.

Then, of course, coaches Rampage and Rashad got in each other’s face again, with each time Rashad getting more and more personal. Then, after the remaining fights were scheduled, Rashad invited all of Rampage’s eliminated guys to come train with Team Rashad, since, in his mind, Rampage didn’t care about them. Nobody took him up on that, and Kimbo, who is emerging as a damn likeable guy for someone who used to bludgeon people in parking lots, was the first to say that he could not turn his back on his coach. Be sure to tune in next week and check out another of my summaries. What excuse do you have not watch a fight between guys named Big Baby and Titties?

By Matthew J. Swanson

Matthew J. Swanson is a playwright, fighting enthusiast, and author of all sorts of other “stuff.” Get a look at his writing with links to other publications to which he contributes at his blog page updated every day (mostly) at www.thegancer.blogspot.com.