Contributor: Josh Hall
The fifth episode began in the same fashion as the end of the fourth, with a few more shots of a still suffering Roxanne Modaferri after her defeat to Jessica Rakoczy. We transitioned quickly from one set of roommates to another as Davey Grant and Louis Fissette discussed their upcoming fight. Both men talked about it being awkward and being friends, but they understood that they still had a job to do. There was a quick segment on Raquel Pennington being an openly gay fighter and her family struggles after she came out, and then we were right back into Grant/Fissette.
Grant clearly missed his family a great deal during the taping of TUF, as that was pretty much all he talked about. He credited his fiancée and two children with inspiring him to escape a meaningless existence partying constantly and supporting him in his attempts to chase his dream.
Team Tate (and Anthony from team Rousey) played an enthralling game of ‘truth or dare’ where we found out absolutely nothing useful about anything or anyone. Josh Hill was dared to use a cheesy pickup line on Roxy and promptly had it thrown back at him by the quick witted “Happy Warrior” to the delight of the people playing the game. Anthony said that he thought Louis Fissette was the weakest guy in the house, but after explaining his reason for the statement the drama was averted.
We saw some of the guys in the house struggling with keeping their diet clean, namely Gutierrez and Cody Bollinger. We saw Bollinger get on the scale weighing 157.5, and I could not help but cringe. After such a recent weight cutting tragedy in the sport it was concerning to see how big a cut he was to be attempting in very short time.
Ronda brought in her mother former world champion judoka Dr. Ann Maria DeMars as a guest coach, and it became apparent immediately why Ronda is the way she is. DeMars went right after Ronda’s team, criticizing them for not working hard enough all the time. She spoke about training days after surgery with stiches still in because it was necessary to become a champion. The woman has an intensity about her that never seems to stop for anything.
Rousey talked about her mother forcing her as a child to compete when sick, sending her to tournaments with no coaches and to ones where she knew officials and judges would all be against her. It worked out well for Ronda in the end but that had to be a tough way to spend her childhood. Ronda and her mom headed to the TUF house so that DeMars could meet Davey, who had missed the training session cutting weight for his upcoming fight.
Team Tate pulled one of the stupidest pranks in TUF history when they broke into Team Rousey’s warm up room and left a small Count doll with Edmond’s name written on it and a coupon for free hair removal. After promising Dana that she would abstain from any future conflicts on the show Rousey kept her word here. She got rid of the doll and coupon before Edmond arrived at the training facility, knowing that if he saw it he would go ballistic again.
Quarterfinal Matchup: Louis Fissette (Team Tate) vs Davey Grant (Team Rousey)
Fissette tried to establish a lead jab and left hook early in the first round, but it became clear very fast he lacked the power or precision to stand with Grant for long. An ill-advised flying knee attempt led to an easy takedown for Grant, and he landed some effective ground and pound.
Fissette rolled for a kneebar but Grant was able to use that to transition straight to side control. He immediately looked for an armbar but he lost position once he couldn’t get the submission. Fissette tried to take advantage of an opening to take the back of Grant but Davey was able to turn it around, ending up in Louis’ guard. Grant unloaded with ground and pound to his battered roommate, and the doctor took a long look at Frisette before letting the fight go on.
Early in the second round Grant fought off a takedown attempt and scooped up Frisette with an old school pro wrestling body slam. Grant quickly looked for the kill, taking the back of his exhausted opponent and sneaking in a rear naked choke within moments. There was little to no resistance from Frisette, who tapped very quickly to the deep choke.
Davey Grant defeats Louis Fisette via 2nd round submission.
Next week: Jessamyn Duke (Team Rousey) vs Raquel Pennington (Team Tate)
-You can contact Josh at [email protected] or @jhall282.
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