Tuffies: Recap and Awards for Episode 11

Onto to the next episode of the Ultimate Fighter. This one will feature Junie Browning vs. Efrain Escudero and Krzysztof Soszynszki vs. Vinny Magalhaes. The last episode was 100% focused on fighting. With Junie in the picture, that is unlikely in this episode. Let's go -- on with the show!

Everyone's favorite Polish-Canadian, K-Sos, is up first against Vinny, the jiu-jitsu whiz kid. They go directly into the fight that K-Sos calls a classic grappler vs. striker match-up. After a little less than a minute of stand-up, Vinny pulls K to the ground and begins to work a rubber guard. K gets out of it and they stand up. They don't do much for about a minute of stand-up, and then Vinny gets aggressive and throws some punch-kick combos, which leads to taking down K, and an armbar. K taps, and as they say, it is all over.

K takes the loss as a learning experience, and now we will have Bader vs. Vinny next Saturday in the finals.

At training, Junie feels like his timing is off. He is telling Mir that he doesn't want to fight any more, and the coaches are not going to try to convince him that he needs to fight. Back at the house, a few of the guys, including Junie and Shane Primm, are sitting around talking about the Vinny/Bader match-up. Shane defends Bader, and tells Junie, "Hey, I'm from the Show Me State. Don't tell me anything." For some reason, that sets Junie off. He throws a glass and goes after Primm. Vinny tries to calm Junie down which is always a futile exercise. Junie says that he f***ed up. Haven't we heard this song and dance before?

Dana White shows up at the house and tells Junie that he can't tell if he is retarded, bipolar or if he's afraid of failing. He brings up Junie's earlier conversation with Mir, and Junie says the house is too much pressure. Dana acts more as a shrink that the president of the UFC. Dana says that he is in a bad position because Junie wants to go home, so Dana doesn't want to give him what he wants. At the same time, he can't reward bad behavior. Decisions, decisions. So, he asks for help from the other fighters.

Dana tells the guys that Junie is a nutjob and a fruit loop. I wonder if the Fruit Loop reference is the product placement. Dana then says the line of the show: "This isn't Survivor, you don't vote him off, you beat him off. That didn't sound good." Of course, this soliloquy is peppered with F-bombs. The guys have no problem with Junie staying because Efrain wants to kick his ass.

The counseling session with Junie continues and Dana tells him to get his crap together. "Face your fears." Whatever happened to the good old days of "Do you wanna be a f***in' fighter?" The old Dana White has been replaced by a dorm adviser.

Suddenly, Junie has a burst of confidence and says that there is no way that Efrain is going to beat him. After Junie walked into the cage, he sat down waiting for Efrain to come in. It was odd and very disrespectful.

After a minute of stand-up, Efrain gets the takedown and they get up almost immediately. Efrain lands a nice punch, and then Junie tries to work a single-leg takedown but they are on the cage and it is going nowhere. They stay in a clinch, but when they finally break apart, it is more tentative stand-up. Efrain throws some low leg kicks and the round ends. I'm disappointed in this fight so far. I was expecting more aggresiveness out of Efrain.

In the second round, Efrain shows the aggressiveness I was hoping for, starting punching right away. Junie again tries for the single leg takedown but he drives Efrain into the cage, and he gets out right away. After Junie lands a few punches, Efrain takes Junie down. Efrain sinks a Darce, and Junie taps. Mir is disgusted by Junie giving up, and Dana says justice is served. Junie says he's in the wrong sport, blames the loss on his conditioning, and quits the sport. (Allegedly.) Then he says he is going to fight again. Nah, he's not bipolar.

Efrain is our fourth finalist, meaning that though Nog had fewer guys in the semis, he has a 3-1 advantage in the finals. Before the fights, Mir and Nog made a bet over their hair, so Mir is now bald. Next Saturday, we will see Vinny Magalhaes vs. Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero vs. Phillipe Nover. Let's get it on!