CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED – Only one spot remains in the semifinals of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir, and it’s going to go to either Team Nogueira’s John Polakowski or Team Mir’s George Roop. So who will emerge in this 155-pound battle?
If it hasn’t been made clear by now, let’s state for the record that Polakowski is a hugger.
“I feel like I’ve got a little nuclear reactor inside of me,” said the Californian, who may very well be the nicest person to ever appear on The Ultimate Fighter. Even Junie Browning says it’s impossible not to like him, but on this week’s episode, Polakowski does show a little bit of anger when someone takes the marshmallows out of his Lucky Charms cereal box.
On the other side of this week’s bout, Roop has some more serious issues to deal with, as he catches his right hand in the Octagon fencing and injures it pretty badly. It swells up immediately, and he can’t make a fist, but he decides to battle on for his once in a lifetime shot at a UFC contract.
By fight day, Roop’s swelling has gone down, and the Arizona native is ready to fight. Well, not before a pre-fight hug with Polakowski in the center of the Octagon. After that though, the two are anything but friendly, and Roop scores with accurate long-range kicks and a strong takedown that definitely earns him the first round.
In the second, Polakowski roars back, even appearing to hurt a tiring Roop with a right hand. Just when it looks like Polakowski is about to pull away though, Roop scores with a takedown. And though he isn’t able to mount a sustained offense on the mat, Roop is awarded the second round and the fight, much to the dismay of many observers, including UFC President Dana White, who says, “This clearly was a fight that should have gone to a third round.”
Roop will be the one going to the semis though, and while Polakowski was disappointed, he did manage to celebrate at the house that night. Also celebrating were the rest of the competitors, some of whom were throwing eggs and other items at some of the fighters who were in the pool. One of these other items, a pork chop, hit Browning, and Junie didn’t take too kindly to that, almost getting into another incident in the house before cooler heads prevailed.
Now it’s time for the semifinal selections, with White and coaches Nogueira and Mir meeting with each of the eight remaining fighters. On the light heavyweight side of things, Ryan Bader and Eliot Marshall both want to fight each other, while Krzysztof Soszynski wants Bader, and Vinny Magalhaes wants Soszynski in their semifinal fights.
The lightweights are a little easier to figure out with Roop and Phillipe Nover both wanting to fight each other, while Browning and Efrain Escudero agree that the ideal fight would be against each other.
Finally, the semifinal matchups are set, and they are as follows:
Light Heavyweights Eliot Marshall vs Ryan Bader Vinny Magalhaes vs Krzysztof Soszynski
Lightweights Phillipe Nover vs George Roop Junie Browning vs Efrain Escudero
Here’s how the teams look:
TEAM MIR Krzysztof Soszynski 1-0 Vinny Magalhaes 1-0 Eliot Marshall 1-0 Tom Lawlor – Eliminated in week three by Ryan Bader Junie Browning 1-0 Shane Nelson – Eliminated in week four by Efrain Escudero Dave Kaplan – Eliminated in week eight by Phillipe Nover George Roop 1-0
TEAM NOGUEIRA Ryan Bader 1-0 Shane Primm – Eliminated in week five by Eliot Marshall Kyle Kingsbury – Eliminated in week nine by Krzysztof Soszynski Jules Bruchez – Eliminated in week seven by Vinny Magalhaes Phillipe Nover 1-0 Efrain Escudero 1-0 John Polakowski – Eliminated in week ten by George Roop Roli Delgado – Eliminated in week six by Junie Browning
For weekly recaps of The Ultimate Fighter, as well as fighter profiles, stay tuned to UFC.com.
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