Iaquinta Nation

It’s taken me a little time to get caught up from vacation but here’s a little episode recap from last week. This weeks episode featured the matchup between Chris Saunders and Sam Sicilia. The episode started out with Team Cruz in high sprits after a much needed win by Vinc Pichel. Cofer was very upset and distraught after the tough loss to Vinc. He had fought a great fight but Vinc came out very aggressive in the third round.

It was really interesting to see World/Olympic medalist in judo, and the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey on the show this week working with Team Cruz. Ronda was the first women to be a guest coach on the show. Cruz talked about brining her in because “she’s vicious and she knows what it takes to win. That’s what the guys need to see.” She worked with all the guys and demonstrated a lot of great judo techniques. All of the guys on Team Cruz in some way or another called her a “badass”. She threw everyone around despite their size showing just how talented she is. Rousey was very excited about how open minded everyone was to learn. (On a side note if you’ve never seen Ronda Rousey fight look her up, she’s a great athlete and a lot of fun to watch.)

A very funny moment following Rousey working with Team Cruz was having Cruz bring her to the TUF house to watch UFC on PPV. All of the guys were very shy around her, and there was a lot of awkward silence. Rousey went on to say “It was like I had the plague or something, like oh my god a girl!” While watching the PPV everyone just kind of sat around her but no one talked to her. Ronda despite being one of the best women fighters in the world is very pretty so it appeared that maybe the guys were nervous. The only contact on camera she had was with Tickle saying she wanted to ask for some salted nuts, but didn’t want to open her self up to any jokes. Cruz commented saying “Even if they didn’t talk to her I think they were all just happy to have a girl around. They haven’t seen a girl in ages.” Faber added that “ There was just a lot of crickets. For having the first girl in the house these guys blew it.”

We watched as boredom continued to filter throughout the house, and the pranks continued. Boxer’s in the freezer, chap stick glued to night stands, and later in the episode Faber and his guys even pull a prank on Cruz’s locker room. Tickle wrapped the sink hose in plastic wrap so anyone who went to use the sinks would get squirted. Although Cruickshank fell for it, Al wanted no part of the joke. “Real funny, real f*cking funny!” he said to the camera. “You’re not going to get us you idiots.”

The rest of the episode revolved around both fighters Chris Saunders and Sam Sicilia. Chris Saunders came from a tough upbringing. His parent’s weren’t really around and he was in and out of foster homes. He feels like that difficult childhood molded him into a stronger person. MMA put the control in his hands for the people in his life who said he couldn’t do it.

Sam Sicilia would fight a few amateur fights and then “disappear” for awhile. He went pro officially just over a year ago. He fought eleven times in the passed year with a lot of knock outs. He’s very athletic and has great cardio. With his heavy hands he’s brutal and relentless.

The fight was a very good one. Sam came out swinging aggressively in the first round. The two tied up against the cage and exchanged kicks. Back in the center of the cage Sam connects again, Saunders looks for a takedown. Saunders lands several nice kicks including a head kick that drops Sam. The kick only temporarily stuns Sam as the two are quickly back up. Sam answers with a big right hand and a take down, ending the round with a choke attempt.

The second round starts with some more big shots by Sam. The two tie up against the cage again. Both fighters look for takedowns. Once back up Sam drops Saunders with a  left hand and looks to finish. Saunders regains his composure and the two wrestle for position with Saunders now on top. The two eventually work their way back up. Both fighters threw a few wild punches near the end of the round, but looked gassed. Although Sam connected with some of those “wild” shots Saunders chin held up. Even though many felt the fight may go to a third round, Saunders wins the fight by split decision. Andy Ogle against Mike Rio next week for the final fight in the first round.

-Matt Pellicane