‘TUF 21’ Recap: Episode 7
After finally scoring a win in Episode 5, the
American Top Team was feeling great about themselves and how
they seized control of the rivalry. But during Episode 6, the hated
Blackzilians stormed back when Jason
Jackson outpointed Marcelo
Alfaya to take a 5-1 lead, the points now being 150-50.
The wind officially out of ATT’s sails at the conclusion of the episode sets up Wednesday’s airing, which sees a team in full panic mode. With desperation set in, head coach Dan Lambert and his crew mull over the twist that each team can replace two fighters after the sixth fight.
The Blackzilians had to show Andrews
Nakahara the doors due to his knockout loss a few episodes ago,
as the Florida commission suspended him from all contact for 30
days. That essentially disqualifies him for the rest of the season,
and we see a tearful and disappointed Nakahara packing his bags and
leaving.
His Blackzilian cohorts are bummed out because of how great of a teammate and how cool a cat he is, but they know as a team they must soldier on. Head coach Glenn Robinson and his disciples decided to reactivate “Pulga” Alexandre Pimentel and they figure out who should fight in the next duel.
Halfway through the show, it’s revealed that the next welterweight showdown will be between Vicente Luque and Nathan Coy.
Luque is one of the Blackzilians’ youngest and most inexperienced fighters. He’s super tough and hungry, according to Robinson, and he has been dying to let his hands go against the hated ATT squad. But unlike many of the cast members, Luque is a clean-cut kid who plays it smart.
“People think I’m crazy because I don’t party or drink ever,” Luque said. “But I want to be world champion and this way of living is the best to me.”
On the other side of the coin is hardened, grizzled Coy. With several-times-over busted nose and gravelly voice, Coy knows he can’t let this opportunity slip through his fingers. “I’ve been building house framework with my dad,” Coy stated. “I fight for my family. I need this. This is my chance and I can’t afford to lose.”
At the weigh-ins, both fighter easily make the 170-pound limit, but at the staredown, Coy is the one who opens his mouth, trying to get his inexperienced foe off his game.
“How are you doing, Vicente? You look well,” Coy muttered as he got in his face. A few more lines of trash talk spew from his grill, but Luque’s teammates yell at him to ignore it. He does.
Come fight time, the ATT camp is going nuts with loud chants of, “ATT! ATT!” Coy makes it to the cage and the staredown is intense. It appears as though the fight will be an entertaining one and it doesn’t disappoint.
Coy tries to strike with the younger, faster Blackzilian, but once he’s tagged by a nice right and left, he shoots in. Luque stuffs his shot and keeps it standing, where he begins to pick apart the 36-year old from the outside. Coy is quickly cut around his right eye from an uppercut on the inside and from there, it’s target practice.
Midway through the frame, Coy looks completely gassed out as he is tagged repeatedly by rights and lefts. Luque mixes in a few low kicks and hooks to the body for good measure and it appears as though the 23-year old is about to get a nice stoppage win for the Blackzilians.
Coy is able to hang tough and survive the round, but it looks grim. He gasping for air, bleeding and he lost the round lopsidedly. From the looks on his teammates’ faces, the fight is all but over at this point.
But when the second round starts, Coy suddenly has a burst of energy and is trading with Luque on the feet. Luque’s strikes are more fluid and sharper, but Coy’s shots are harder. He digs several punches to the ribs and a few nice right hands to the face. Though Luque is certainly holding his own, he no longer is walking right through his foe and doing what he pleases.
Coy, who searched for a takedown for much of the first round, continues to seek it out in the second, but he’s busier on his feet. After Luque cracks him in the head with a right hand, Coy instinctively shoots in and fights like hell for a takedown. With about 90 seconds left in the stanza, Coy finally gets it, but it’s only until the younger lion latches on a kimura.
Luque’s lock isn’t as perilous as he’d like, but he fights for it anyway. Coy defends it well the entire time and when he finally is able to stack his enemy, Luque -- against the wishes of his coaches -- looks for an armbar. He misses badly and ends up with Coy on top of him as time expires.
At the end of the round, Lambert says that the fight is going into ‘Sudden Victory.’ He is right and the welterweight contenders duke it out to see who will prevail in the critical round.
After circling each other and landing a few glancing blows, Luque delivers a powerful push kick to Coy’s gut, instantly sending him back. He’s momentarily winded by the kick and shoots in. They clinch, where Luque crushes a knee to his foe’s gut. Coy returns the favor but he throws his knee too hard, forcing him to slip and fall on to his back. Coy springs up immediately and again shoots in, but this time Luque wrenches his neck and locks in a dangerously tight anaconda.
Coy, knowing he needs to get out ASAP, fights like mad to break free, but the choke is flawless. A short struggle ensues, but the older Coy is forced to finally tap out, which elicits an explosion of excitement from the Blackzilian camp. The official time of the submission is 2:26 of the third round, which gives the Blackzilians a 6-1 advantage in terms of victories and an overall lead of 200-50.
“The kid was tougher than we expected,” Lambert said afterward, bitter but respectful. “I didn’t expect that from him but he came and fought hard. The kid’s good.”
“Losing sucks, man,” a dejected and tearful Coy said afterward. “I tried my best but he got me. He’s a tough kid and came to fight.”
Right near the episode’s conclusion, UFC President Dana White said about Lambert and his beloved ATT: “Dan needs to change up his strategy soon because he’s getting blown out of this competition.”
Dana’s right. Lambert needs to make a desperate move next week or this season could be over before they know it.
The wind officially out of ATT’s sails at the conclusion of the episode sets up Wednesday’s airing, which sees a team in full panic mode. With desperation set in, head coach Dan Lambert and his crew mull over the twist that each team can replace two fighters after the sixth fight.
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His Blackzilian cohorts are bummed out because of how great of a teammate and how cool a cat he is, but they know as a team they must soldier on. Head coach Glenn Robinson and his disciples decided to reactivate “Pulga” Alexandre Pimentel and they figure out who should fight in the next duel.
On the ATT side, the team has to replace Steve
Montgomery, who was forced off the show a few episodes ago when
he suffered a horrific seizure. Enter Cristiano
Souza, a young brawler who just missed the cut to make the
show. He is welcomed with open arms and his teammates instantly
praise him for his work ethic and skill set.
Halfway through the show, it’s revealed that the next welterweight showdown will be between Vicente Luque and Nathan Coy.
Luque is one of the Blackzilians’ youngest and most inexperienced fighters. He’s super tough and hungry, according to Robinson, and he has been dying to let his hands go against the hated ATT squad. But unlike many of the cast members, Luque is a clean-cut kid who plays it smart.
“People think I’m crazy because I don’t party or drink ever,” Luque said. “But I want to be world champion and this way of living is the best to me.”
On the other side of the coin is hardened, grizzled Coy. With several-times-over busted nose and gravelly voice, Coy knows he can’t let this opportunity slip through his fingers. “I’ve been building house framework with my dad,” Coy stated. “I fight for my family. I need this. This is my chance and I can’t afford to lose.”
At the weigh-ins, both fighter easily make the 170-pound limit, but at the staredown, Coy is the one who opens his mouth, trying to get his inexperienced foe off his game.
“How are you doing, Vicente? You look well,” Coy muttered as he got in his face. A few more lines of trash talk spew from his grill, but Luque’s teammates yell at him to ignore it. He does.
Come fight time, the ATT camp is going nuts with loud chants of, “ATT! ATT!” Coy makes it to the cage and the staredown is intense. It appears as though the fight will be an entertaining one and it doesn’t disappoint.
Coy tries to strike with the younger, faster Blackzilian, but once he’s tagged by a nice right and left, he shoots in. Luque stuffs his shot and keeps it standing, where he begins to pick apart the 36-year old from the outside. Coy is quickly cut around his right eye from an uppercut on the inside and from there, it’s target practice.
Midway through the frame, Coy looks completely gassed out as he is tagged repeatedly by rights and lefts. Luque mixes in a few low kicks and hooks to the body for good measure and it appears as though the 23-year old is about to get a nice stoppage win for the Blackzilians.
Coy is able to hang tough and survive the round, but it looks grim. He gasping for air, bleeding and he lost the round lopsidedly. From the looks on his teammates’ faces, the fight is all but over at this point.
But when the second round starts, Coy suddenly has a burst of energy and is trading with Luque on the feet. Luque’s strikes are more fluid and sharper, but Coy’s shots are harder. He digs several punches to the ribs and a few nice right hands to the face. Though Luque is certainly holding his own, he no longer is walking right through his foe and doing what he pleases.
Coy, who searched for a takedown for much of the first round, continues to seek it out in the second, but he’s busier on his feet. After Luque cracks him in the head with a right hand, Coy instinctively shoots in and fights like hell for a takedown. With about 90 seconds left in the stanza, Coy finally gets it, but it’s only until the younger lion latches on a kimura.
Luque’s lock isn’t as perilous as he’d like, but he fights for it anyway. Coy defends it well the entire time and when he finally is able to stack his enemy, Luque -- against the wishes of his coaches -- looks for an armbar. He misses badly and ends up with Coy on top of him as time expires.
At the end of the round, Lambert says that the fight is going into ‘Sudden Victory.’ He is right and the welterweight contenders duke it out to see who will prevail in the critical round.
After circling each other and landing a few glancing blows, Luque delivers a powerful push kick to Coy’s gut, instantly sending him back. He’s momentarily winded by the kick and shoots in. They clinch, where Luque crushes a knee to his foe’s gut. Coy returns the favor but he throws his knee too hard, forcing him to slip and fall on to his back. Coy springs up immediately and again shoots in, but this time Luque wrenches his neck and locks in a dangerously tight anaconda.
Coy, knowing he needs to get out ASAP, fights like mad to break free, but the choke is flawless. A short struggle ensues, but the older Coy is forced to finally tap out, which elicits an explosion of excitement from the Blackzilian camp. The official time of the submission is 2:26 of the third round, which gives the Blackzilians a 6-1 advantage in terms of victories and an overall lead of 200-50.
“The kid was tougher than we expected,” Lambert said afterward, bitter but respectful. “I didn’t expect that from him but he came and fought hard. The kid’s good.”
“Losing sucks, man,” a dejected and tearful Coy said afterward. “I tried my best but he got me. He’s a tough kid and came to fight.”
Right near the episode’s conclusion, UFC President Dana White said about Lambert and his beloved ATT: “Dan needs to change up his strategy soon because he’s getting blown out of this competition.”
Dana’s right. Lambert needs to make a desperate move next week or this season could be over before they know it.
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