The episode starts out with the fighters moving into the house. Like most seasons everyone comments how big the place is yet reiterate what Dana has said every season which is that the house will soon feel incredibly small. They then have a barbecue and eat more than a group of bantam and featherweights probably should when they constantly have to make weight. No early clowns in the house as far as I can tell.
They head to the gym and team selections are made. Bisping gets to pick the first fighter in each division, Mayhem picks the first fight. Teams are picked and Bisping is sure that he has the best team. He comments that Miller picked the fighters who he ranked as least talented. Miller's reasoning was that he chose fighters who would benefit from his style of coaching. The teams look like so:
Team BispingTeam MayhemLouis GaudinotJohn DodsonT.J. DillashawJohnny BedfordJohn AlbertDustin PagueJosh FergusonRoland DelormeDiego BrandaoDennis BermudezAkira CorassaniBryan CarawayMarcus BrimageDustin NeaceStephan BassSteven Siller
At the end of the team selection, Miller brings up that people on Bisping's team aren't really happy with how the selection went down. There's an uncomfortable silence before they leave the training facility.
Fast forward to the first training session for Team Mayhem. Seems pretty happy about his coaching style and the small bits of advice he offers to improve their grappling skill sets. Decent all around talent on the team with most looking pretty well rounded. In the first Bisping practice, it's very apparent that some fighters are coming in with major holes in their games. Marcus Brimage is singled out by production who show his incompetency in BJJ. He's amazed at a simple BJJ 101 move to pass guard. Not a good sign. Coach Ryan Parsons and Jason Miller show up at the house bearing gifts to help their fighters with recovery. Pressure suits which assist in pushing
They rendezvous back at the gym for the fight announcement after the commercial break. Representing Team Mayhem will be Miesha Tate's boyfriend Bryan Caraway. His opponent? Marcus Brimage. Bisping loves the match up and Dana White can't help but feel that Miller made a huge mistake in this selection. Bisping leaves to help Brimage make weight as he is 13 pounds over. Miller works with Caraway who has dealt with issues regarding mental toughness lately. Before they leave the gym they put the tires in the Team Bisping locker room and make sure the door cannot open. Shenanigans!
After the commercial break the fighters weigh in. Team Bisping practiced all night a song to hype up Brimage. They kept calling him Darkness and it ended with Brimage scream in Caraway's face. If you heard the scream, it's not really intimidating. Brimage's voice sounds exactly how you would expect a 145 pound person to speak. Bloody Elbow radio host Forrest Lynn commented that you'd expect him to snap in your face like a sassy Latina. Back at the house, Caraway is upset that Team Bisping called him a "bitch". The Ultimate Fighter 14: "Share Your Feelings" would not be a compelling season, so let's hope that this is the last time that Caraway is upset.
The fight played out as you'd expect. Brimage has almost zero skills on the ground besides an ability to fight hands. He isn't a competent grappler and he isn't able to escape any dangerous positions. His vaunted striking skills may have been overstated as well. In a two round fight, he may have landed only a handful of strikes clean with most being blocked or missing completely. Caraway didn't look great either. After the first round he was exhausted and had trouble completing takedowns and keeping Brimage on the ground. He did end the fight with a rear naked choke. He advances to the next round but he didn't look great in doing so.
Come back next week where I've been assured that Mike Fagan will have an open post to talk about the show. From the end of episode previews it looks like the pranks have left the gym and make their way to the house. Brimage also wants to fight his teammates. Should be an explosive show!