Im not sure but i think its gonna be shown as a finale. there was all that fuss about tito tearing his acl or something, so he dropped out for a while and forrest griffin was going to fight Shamrock instead. but then they found out it wasnt "torn" or something, so tito is back to fighting shamrock. then next for tito is chuck liddel again, or something like that.
and i vote forrest griffin and stephen bonnar for TUF4 coaches :)

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Good point about the weight class of the returning guy, if it's a light heavyweight, it just has to be Jesse. If they bring back Christian, I might protest. That guy had NO business on the show and was there for sentiment purposes only. Not only that didn't he leave a week ago with 8 stitches in his head and some in his lip?

I'm on the can't stand Dana White side too. He used to be fucking unbearable a few years ago, especially when he had his "puff of hair on top, bald all over" haircut. They show it when he breaks up the Shamrock/Ortiz press conference. He just always reminds me and my friends of that guy that could never make the team so he was the manager. He thinks he's tough, and I actually don't doubt his business acumen as he's done a hell of a job with promotion and expansion, but leave the posturing to the damn fighters.

I am glad that the Shamrock/Ortiz fight is back on, the show gives that rivalry a whole new perspective to me. And why the HELL won't they put a Bonner/Griffin rematch on PPV?? That makes no sense unless they're trying to keep both guys strong. Awesome idea for coaches though.

Well, I was also pretty pissed that we didn't get a fight last night. I understand that Noah left and all that, but I would bet that most everyone who watches this show watches for the fights, not for the Real World-type drama going on in the house.

The one issue that I have about bringing someone back is that it wasn't Tito or his team's fault that Noah chose to leave, so I think their team shouldn't be punished by having someone from Team Shamrock brought back. But there is only one person from Team Shamrock who has won a fight so it seems pretty clear that one of those guys will be back for more.

And I'll once again rejoin the chorus singing Tito's praises. This guy is such a much better trainer than Shamrock. As someone else said, Shamrock has missed multiple session, given them tons of days off, acted like a baby and threatened to not show up many times. I can understand a little bit Shamrock's frustrations about his team constantly second-guessing his training regimen, but do you think Tito would care if his team did the same thing? I don't think he would; he would just continue to be the boss and make them do what he thinks is right. Tito has gained so much for respect in my eyes since this show has started. I always have acknowledged he was a great fighter, but now I have so much more respect for him as a person and a trainer.

Things...
 

1) This is TUF Season 3, not "Days Of Our Lives".

2) A show without a fight = LAME

3) A lot of people are knocking the guy for quitting...personally, I agree. The more interesting question is how did he get the letter in the first place? The fighters aren't supposed to have any contact with the outside world, right? Then how does one of them get a letter? Why was he the only one?

4) I would really like to know what we *aren't* seeing w/ regards to Shamrock & Ortiz. I love the show and all, but I can't help but realize it is an 'edited' reality show.

This is the main thing that I was wondering about. I figured when he received the letter that it would have to be a pretty big deal for the producers to let him have it. I was shocked when it was this girlfriend situation. So, who delivered it? Maybe it was a ploy from one of the guys at Team Shamrock to get him rattled. Conspiracy theories, gotta love them!

Ken is overhyped in his own mind. If you look at past records his credentials are no way near legend quality. He even said he was the heavyweight champ on the show when all he really won was superfight matches. One can argue that it can be seen as a heavyweight title, but in all honesty the WWE got to his head naming him the most dangerous man alive.

Seeing how Matt has never got Rocked before and basically giving up after getting dazed shows his easy to exploit weakness already. I feel he will be in a rude awakening when he gets his first fight with a true MMA fighter.

I def think that letter was allowed to slip through to create drama by the producers but in no way did they think Noah would leave the show over some drama with his 6 month girlfriend. Was Tito about to get teary when he heard the news that Noah whom he coached to a victory just left the show out of no where. Watta douche Noah is.

Figured I would give this a bump after the latest episode. It was nice to have an actual fight this week, instead of the melodrama non-fight episode last week.

I have to agree with Dana White on last night's fight. It should have been a draw (and go to a third round), instead of a split decision. Maybe I'm just not well schooled in MMA, but the fight appeared to be dead even, with the first round going to Josh and the second round going to Tate.

Overall it was a pretty entertaining fight, but for some reason I don't see Josh making it past the semi's. He landed some plush punches last night, but they didn't seem to have the power to KO Tate.

Yeah, I thought it would goto round 3 too and with Tate winning the fight. I have no idea what fight the judges were watching.

It did seem like Tait was ahead, to me anyway. That's the problem with having only a two round fight. However I'm glad that Ortiz' team won, just so he can rub it in Shamrock's face and get him good and steamed. I'm looking forward to their rematch.

I really didn't understand how any of the judges could have awarded round 2 to the person that won.
However, neither fighter was very good, they both pretty much sucked. The guy that won basically was just a brawler with absolutely no ground skills whatsoever - everytime he was on the ground in the dominate position, he ended up being on the defensive. The other guy just seemed inept in general, he had decent submission attempts, but mostly due to the other guy being lost on the ground, but he had no takedown ability at all.

Next week looks interesting though. I will laugh my ass off if Danny beat Ed. I think all the fighters in Shamrock team are full of shits.

Granted I've never been in a full-blown drawn out 2-round fight, and I realize it's tiring, but this is supposedly all these guys do, training for years, etc., and both Josh and Tait (esp. Josh) looked SO winded by the end of the first round it wasn't even funny.

Josh's hope for a win was to land a big punch--and he really could throw 'em--but when none of 'em really hit their target he didn't really have a Plan B. Tait seemed to have plenty of chances to choke Josh out but he couldn't pull it off either. I definitely agree there should've been a round 3, which would've really settled it one way or the other.

Still, glad the show's back on track. Why do I feel that kid with the big ears is really going to get it handed to him? And I feel the same about Shamrock too...

They should have gone to round 3 for sure. Josh was swinging hard but didn't connect too many times. Tait just couldn't take him down. Good fight.

Yep, definitely should have been a round 3. It looked like a clear draw to me.

I'm also surprised at who they brought back and the fact that he now cruises to the semifinals without even winning a match. Actually, without even coming close to winning a match because Noah submitted him pretty quick if I remember correctly. All I've got to say is that he better not go on to win this thing.

That was the worst decision in the history of the sport of NHB.

Tait was robbed, no question. Anyone familiar with submission grappling will know that Tait had that triangle sunk in tight and Josh was saved by the bell.

Tait pressed the action + Tait had Josh in that triangle....10 seconds more and Josh would have been out.

Those judges suck. Period. They have no idea how to judge a fight by MMA standards, nor by common sense standards.

Judges
 

In general, I question the credentials and qualifications of a lot of the UFC judges, esp the ones that do the judging for TUF.

I would like to know what, if any, martial arts experience these people have. Are they former boxing judges that have been given rough guidelines ("on top = good")?

They should have some minimum standards for the judges. They should, at a minimum, have siginficant training and/or referee certifications in either Judo (preferably something like Kosen Judo) or Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. Japanese Ju Justu would work too, but I mentioned Judo & BJJ because traditionally, they have focused a lot more on the 'competition/contest' aspects.

IMHO Tait won the fight. He was pressing the action, and he was attacking during the ground game (being on the bottom should be irrelevant if you are actively attacking via chokes, armbars, shoulder locks, etc). Other than a couple times, Tait made Josh fight Tait's fight. To Josh's credit, he did land some good, hard punches, and his shots were a lot 'cleaner'. At worst, Josh & Tait should have fought a 3rd round.

This episode, while better, still had too much 'character development'. I personally like Season 1 the best.

So I finally got to watch this episode, and although I agree that it should have been a draw, if I would have given a desicion, I would have given it to Josh. Tait was supposed to be such a great Jiu-Jitsu guy, but everytime he had Josh on the ground, Josh was able to get out. Also, Josh knocked Tait down. Plus you can say 10 more seconds, but the fact is, he didnt have 10 more seconds. I dont think Josh clearly won the fight, as I again, I believe it was a draw. I was actually sad to see Tait go, because he was the only person on Shamrock's team I actually liked. And just to add, Jesse coming back was shit. I hope whoever gets him in the semi's kicks his ass hard.

I thought Josh definitely won the first round. And the second round was very close. I wanted a third round. But Tait simply didn't capitalize on his few opportunities when Josh was on the ground.

On a separate note, there was an interview on ESPN on Sunday morning with Dana White and a couple of reporters regarding the legitimacy of ulitmate fighting as a sport, and the possibility of it becoming more popular than boxing. One of the reporters was adamant that ultimate fighting was not a sport, just young men's desire to see blood. Marc Ratner, former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, was also interviewed. He has taken a job with UFC to bring more legitimacy to the sport.

Call it a sport or don't call it a sport, to me, it's entertaining as hell.

Sport means athletic and skilled, which UFC is. Beside, it's more real than boxing. If they called boxing a sport, then UFC is a sport.

Have you seen his Pancrase fights? THAT was when he was a good fighter. When he got to UFC, etc, he was overmatched almost all the time. His early fights are something else and where he gets the rep. I feel pretty bad though, as he was known for The Lion's Den and it appears he's lost a lot of focus over the years. It explains a LOT if you look at it in context with his career.

Plus, Ken was WWF Intercontinental Champion. ;)

I HIGHLY doubt they will have this fight on Spike.. This will be one of the most hyped fights in UFC history! Randy & Chuck were coaches for Season 1 and they fought in UFC 52 so my guess is most definately it will be PPV. Too much money to be made!!!

Exactly what I was going to say. If boxing is considered a sport, then I don't see how anyone can say that MMA isn't. It takes just as much as skill and wit as boxing, probably more. I think people who say something like this don't really know the sport, have never watched it, or are just trying to hang onto the status quo.

But the fact is that boxing has been growing more and more irrelevant over the years. I remember when I was younger and everyone wanted to watch the next Tyson fight. How many boxers can you say that about today? I don't know anyone who takes the time to order a PPV boxing event anymore. One of the only exceptions, at least in my area, is Oscar de la Hoya, and even he isn't as popular as Tyson was.

I think they should have brought 2 guys back, had them fight to earn a spot back on the show instead of just giving the spot to someone. That way they get an extra episode and an extra fight.