"The Ultimate Fighter" 6 Recaps and Highlights!

The Ultimate Fighter 6

Spike TV today unveiled the list of cast members who will appear on the upcoming sixth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series.

“The Ultimate Fighter: Team Serra vs. Team Hughes” features 16 welterweight (170-pound) fighters vying for a UFC contract. The season recently concluded filming and debuts Sept. 19 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV.

This season’s competitors include:

Matt Arroyo
Daniel Barrera
Blake Bowman
Mac Danzig
Paul Georgieff
Richie Hightower
John Koloski
Troy MandalonizÂ
Billy Miles
Roman Mitichyan
Dorian Price
Jared Rollins
Ben Saunders
Joe Scarola
George Sotiropoulos
Tommy Speer

(Jon Koppenhaver is expected to join the cast as a replacement for an injured fighter at some point during the season)

Current welterweight champion Matt Serra and former champ Matt Hughes serve as coaches this season. The two fighters aren’t exactly the best of friends, and Spike TV Senior Vice President of Sports and Specials Brian J. Diamond indicated that the friction will be evident.

“They’re not going to disappoint,” Diamond said. “In their own way, they are incredible characters. They’re completely polar opposites — not just geographically (but also) in terms of who they are as people and how they fight. There are a lot of surprises with those two guys along the way.“

After the debut episode’s 11 p.m. time slot, the series will then air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

The series live finale is expected to take place Dec. 8 at The Palms Las Vegas.

the series will air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

After two weeks, the competition is deadlocked at 1-1. Here’s how the teams look.

TEAM SERRA
Joe Scarola – Eliminated in week one by Mac Danzig
George Sotiropoulos
Matt Arroyo 1-0
John Kolosci
Ben Saunders
Roman Mitichyan – Eliminated during week one due to injury
Jon Koppenhaver
Troy Mandaloniz
Richie Hightower

TEAM HUGHES
Dan Barrera
Mac Danzig 1-0
Tommy Speer
Billy Miles
Jared Rollins
Paul Georgieff
Dorian Price – Eliminated in week two by Matt Arroyo
Blake Bowman

Preview For This Week's Episode Of Ultimate Fighter 6

NEXT EPISODE

While Team Hughes prepares for the next fight, Team Serra gets down with sake and paint. Joey makes a final decision on whether he's going to stay or go.

CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED – The Joey Scarola drama continues for Team Serra, but there is still a fight to be fought and one more competitor to be eliminated on the third episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs Team Serra.

After evening up the competition in week two due to Matt Arroyo’s win over Dorian Price, Team Serra will have to sit back and wait as Team Hughes picks this week’s matchup. Coach Matt Serra believes George Sotiropoulos or Richie Hightower will get the call, but opposing coach Matt Hughes surprises his rival by having his own team’s Billy Miles face off against Team Serra’s John Kolosci, who told his team from the start that he wanted to fight the favored Californian.

Miles, a training partner of UFC vets Scott Smith and James Irvin, has plenty of weight to drop before the fight, and Team Hughes’ assistant coach Marc Fiore is on the case immediately. Miles’ thoughts of his son back home are also prevalent as he cuts weight, and it prompts Hughes to sit his team down and let them know that he is in the same boat they are, and that they should give their best now so they have no regrets later.

That’s the same theme coach Serra is pushing to already eliminated Joey Scarola, who is miserable in the house and eager to leave to get back to New York and his girlfriend.

Serra and assistant coaches Ray Longo and Pete Sell try talking sense into Scarola, with Serra even telling the fighter that if he leaves he won’t be able to teach in the UFC welterweight champion’s jiu-jitsu school anymore.

Finally, UFC President Dana White, fresh from a flight from Belfast, talks to Scarola and asks him to think about the choice he’s about to make. “You will regret this forever,” said White. “You don’t want to go out like this. Think about it.”

Scarola’s mind was made up though, and he left the house, which is almost a relief for Serra, who doesn’t have to deal with the drama anymore.

Back in the competition, Miles makes weight at 171 pounds, and Kolosci checks in at 169.5 but seems to have been hit with a cold or flu at fight time. Regardless, Kolosci stuns the highly-regarded wrestler with an early takedown, and later sinks in a guillotine choke on Miles to score a first round submission win that he calls “the third happiest day” of his life.

After three weeks, Team Serra has pulled into the lead, 2 wins to 1. Here’s how the teams look.

TEAM SERRA
Joe Scarola – Eliminated in week one by Mac Danzig
George Sotiropoulos
Matt Arroyo 1-0
John Kolosci 1-0
Ben Saunders
Roman Mitichyan – Eliminated during week one due to injury
Jon Koppenhaver
Troy Mandaloniz
Richie Hightower

TEAM HUGHES
Dan Barrera
Mac Danzig 1-0
Tommy Speer
Billy Miles – Eliminated in week three by John Kolosci
Jared Rollins
Paul Georgieff
Dorian Price – Eliminated in week two by Matt Arroyo
Blake Bowman

Matt Hughes' Ultimate Fighter Blog - Week 3By Matt Hughes

To be honest,I was somewhat out of the loop with the whole Joe Scarola incident while it was going on. All that happened at Matt Serra’s practice or at the house, and I’m not a part of either one of those, so I only knew what my guys informed me about. Never did I ask any questions about Joey and I really didn’t care. I was concerned with my team.

When it comes to him choosing to leave the show, you’ve got to think that it’s somewhat bad coaching. Do I think one of my guys would have left? I don’t think they would have. Matt Serra’s been his coach for years, so you’ve got to think that came from the gym back in New York or that came from the coaching there on the reality show. So I’ve gotta say that it’s probably Matt Serra’s fault he left. And if it were one of my guys that left, I would definitely say it was my fault.

This week I sat the team down at practice and I wanted to let my guys know that we were all on this ship together. I told them ‘You guys are going through a hard time, you miss your family, your friends, your TV, your cell phone, and I’m in the same ship. I’m away from my family, but the light at the end of the road is, when you’re old and retired, you can look back on this and be proud.’ I wanted to let those guys know that.

As for my own retirement, I really don’t have any idea when that’s going to be. In a perfect world, I would be retired right now, living with my family, and staying in my hometown the rest of my life. And that’s how I think everybody would be, because in a perfect world, nobody would go to work anymore. But in reality, that’s not the way it is, so I will fight as long as I am able and as long as I still have that competitive side of me.

Both teams got together in the house on this episode to watch UFC 72 on pay-per-view from Belfast and it was an interesting time. I was surprised that Matt Serra didn’t bring something for his guys.

I wanted my guys to get away from the same old thing, and throughout the whole show, I wanted to break it up so it didn’t feel like they were stuck on this reality show with the same old thing over and over. So that’s why I brought in some food and let them kinda relax and get their minds off their daily routine for a little while.

Matt Serra’s negative comments about me continued this week, but it really doesn’t bother me. It just makes me think that he’s got some type of an insecurity issue and it seems like he’s really trying to find things to nitpick at. So the more comments he makes about me, the more I smile.

This week’s fight saw John Kolosci submit our fighter, Billy Miles, in the first round, and I was very shocked by the result. Any fight I put together, I think I’m gonna win with no doubt. I just think Billy got a little bit of stage fright.

He really didn’t do much of anything out there, he just got nervous. And this is one of those things that will make you nervous. Fighting for the first time in the UFC, you’ve got the cameras rolling, and Dana White, the UFC and the production people are all there, so there’s a lot to think about before you step into the Octagon.

Moving forward into next week, I’ve got to work with the guys mentally because I’ve just seen Billy go out there and lose because I think he wasn’t mentally focused. But I think physically, they’re right where they need to be.

For more information on Matt Hughes, visit www.matt-hughes.com

I don't see how he can say Joe leaving was Serra's fault. He tried three times to level with the guy but Joe just didn't want to hear it. He ended up being a waste of a #1 pick.

There’s been so much recent talk about the mental implosion of Joe Scarola on the season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 6. That’s because the Matt Serra-trained fighter packed his bags and quit the show because he couldn’t hack it in the house.

It ranks right up there with Gabe Reudiger’s “shenanigans” during TUF 5.

Serra has been vocal about his disappointment and displeasure with Scarola’s ridiculous decision. And he puts a ribbon on it in a recent NewsDay.com blog post.
Here’s a snip from the champ:

“… let me give you some background on how Joe got on the show. He wanted to be on ever since Luke was on Season 2, but I had my doubts about his ability to take it in the house. He was persistent in asking, so in time, we considered it, and had our sports psychologist, Dr. Sherry Wulcan, talk to him for an evaluation. In her professional opinion, she didn’t think he could make it in the house for six weeks, and her recommendation was not to send him. I respected her opinion, and wasn’t planning on sending him to Las Vegas for the show. Still, he persisted, and, eventually Ray Longo persuaded me to reconsider saying ‘Look, let him find out for himself. He’s an adult, and if he can’t hack it, he’ll live with those consequences.’ I eventually gave him my seal of approval and he got a tryout for the show….”

Talk about volunteering yourself for the firing squad.

By Jesse Holland
Episode four begins with the quotidian recap and everyone is just as surprised as Billy that John opted to shoot and take him down during last week’s fight. Jared summed it up best: “It was disgusting, dude“.

An angry Hughes spits on the legacy of Yogi Berra and informs his fighters that fighting is 50% physical and 50% mental. Warmly welcoming anything that requires only 50% physicality, Blake’s eyes get a little Heaven’s Gate-ish as he starts hopping in place.

Team Hughes thinks that Serra’s next pick will be a perceived “weak link” to which Paul and Blake immediately make eye contact.

Blake in particular is concerned that Coach Serra might see him as just a bum. With an official record of 0 wins and 0 losses, I’m confident that opinion may stretch a little beyond Matt Serra.

Over at Camp Serra the boys have gathered for a little roundtable action to determine who is the next pick. Jon Koppenhaver likes the idea of fighting Blake because it seems like the easiest 5k he’ll ever make.

Serra immediately compares him to Gabe Ruediger (ouch) who tried to call out Wayne Weems in secret during season five. Personally I don’t agree with Serra. Taking the path of least resistance may not be the most macho strategy, but what does bravado mean if you don’t make it to the semifinals?

Someone has to ice the cupcakes, it might as well be Koppenhaver.

During the fight picks we learn that Serra will match Richie Hightower against Blake Bowman. Also known as the yawn heard ’round the world. Richie tries his best Ivan Drago and deadpans: “I will crush him like Stalin“.

I guess that makes Blake his Leon Trotsky.