This is my first time writing a blog so please bear with me. I’m looking forward to giving everyone a recap of each week’s episode. This week’s episode starts off with a recap of the team picks and the first fight that was chosen.

Jon Jones had the choice for the first fight and he chose Gilbert “Jamal” Smith to take on Team Sonnen number one pick, Luke “Big Slow” Barnett. Most of the guys on Team Jones really didn’t want Gil fighting Luke first, not because we think Luke was better, but because we had a plan, and most people stick to a plan… but not Gil.

We will get to the fight in a bit, but there were some issues we need to address first. It was clear to me that Gil was having a hard time mentally in just the first week. Whether it was missing his family, people questioning his cardio, or just the fact he was in the middle of the biggest opportunity of his life, I’m not sure, but when you’re in the back yard crying, something isn’t right!

I was in the backyard talking to him, and I was trying to see what was going on. From what I gathered from that talk, Gil was feeling like our team didn’t believe in him. Anyone that knows Gil knows that he needs to be told that he is going to win, he needs positivity around him. And he just wasn’t getting it. This is when the “ambush” issue came up… Our team saw him being emotional, and collectively we came to the conclusion that we didn’t want him to fight. But we couldn’t change Coach Jones’ mind, he decided to stick with Gil and move forward in our quest to dominate this season.

So the fight was finalized and Luke and Gil stepped on the scale and squared off. At this point the size difference is clear, but we all gather behind Gil and start putting our faith in him. Now it’s finally fight time – the fight was actually much closer than I remember. The first round, Gil went for takedowns and Luke defended most of them. And that really was the entire first round. Second round starts and again, more of the same, but then it must have clicked with Gil, “hey, I can punch this tall goofy guy in the face!” as soon as Gil threw a few punches and they landed, it was clear that he could win this fight with a knock out! But then, Luke timed a knee and out he went. After watching the fight a few times, I have to say Gil was taking that fight over. Congratulations to Luke, but Gil also put up a hell of a fight.

Now Team Sonnen gains control of the fight pick and chooses Uriah Hall, to take on myself. This is actually a fight that I wanted. I will break down next week’s episode next time, and you don’t want to miss what Dana calls, “the most brutal knock out in TUF history!” See you guys next week.

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