By Matthew Kimura

Last week we were supposed to see Corey Hill fight Gabe Ruediger, and everyone expected to see both guys drop some bombs since both had talked a tough game the entire season. Unfortunately Gabe didn't make weight, and in turn the only bombs dropped were the F bombs that Dana White had in store for Gabe. Since he didn't make weight, Team Pulver got to choose the next two fights, with the winner of the second fight taking control of the fight choices for next time. Can anyone from Team Penn turn things around? Or will Team Pulver keep up the domination and extend their winning streak?

The Fight Announcements


Brian Gereghty stepped up, representing Team Pulver first, and chose Joe Lauzon. What's interesting is that big Joe knocked out Coach Pulver back at UFC 63. Joe has some UFC experience, so the big question is whether or not Brian can back up his talk. We'll see...

Next up, representing Team Pulver, was Corey Hill, who immediately picked Rob Emerson. Rob was brought back to the regular roster by Dana White since Gabe didn't make weight. Rob's a tough guy, and his fight with Nate Diaz proved it. Corey trains like he's ready to punch through a brick wall. Should be a good fight.

Team Penn was at the training session first and it sounded like Joe had a few nicknames: Crazy Joe, Psycho Joe and Creepy Joe. Coach Penn liked Creepy Joe (when I think creepy I think of the old man from Family Guy...but to he his own I guess). Dana White agreed with it all though because Joe looked like a nerdy kid that probably sat in front of his computer all day. The only thing with this creepy little nerd is that he'll rip your effing head off.

Some say that the KO that Joe had over Jens Pulver was a fluke, although Joe said that it was out of preparation. Basically the way the fight laid out was that Joe hit a huge punch, then a couple more shots, and then one more big shot to end the fight in the first round. Think of it what you will, but either way Pulver said straight up it was a matter of him being unprepared for the fight.

Team Pulver had their training session next, and Brian kept talking about how he wanted to avenge Pulver's loss with a knockout of his own. The big thing that Pulver wanted to get into Brian's head to was for him to forget that Pulver and Joe had ever fought. Brian then said "What fight? What are you talking about?" Still, in his confessionals to the camera he kept saying that he wanted to knock Joe out and give Pulver something else to be happy about.

Joe thought that Brian was a big underdog coming into the fight, and Brian agreed with him. Joe knocked out Pulver, and has had some UFC experience. Brian wanted nothing more than to make a name for himself against a UFC vet.

Joe predicted that he'd take Brian down, pound on him, and then choke him out.

Brian hoped for a knockout or submission.

The Fight: Brian Gereghty(Team Pulver�5'7", 69" reach, 24-9-2) v. Joe Lauzon (Team Penn�5'10", 70", 13-3)


ROUND ONE

Joe came right out and charged at Brian. He took Brian down about 10 seconds into it and started pounding him into the ground. Brian tried to throw up some punches, but nothing landed. He tried to use his legs to keep Joe away, but Joe fought through them and kept pounding Brian down. At around 4:05 Joe landed a ton of punches but somehow Brian rolled out of it all and got to his feet. Joe then jumped on Brian's back and slapped on a rear naked choke. Brian fought it for a while, and even when he fell to the ground Joe still had the choke on. Eventually Brian tapped out.

Your Winner: Joe Lauzon via submission by rear naked choke. Chalk one up (finally) for Team Penn. That win makes the team score 4-1.

Joe obviously had a gameplan going into the fight, and he executed it. Brian was pretty upset afterward. He said that it was his worst fight ever. If he were Dana, he wouldn't invite himself back for another fight, he felt that it was that bad.

Pulver said that Brian must not have heard him when he said that Joe was going to come out like a maniac. He was happy that Joe did well though. It proved that he didn't get knocked out by a wuss. Penn was pretty happy about the win, since it was his team's first.

The next fight was up and...

Dana White reminded everyone that the next fight, which would be between Corey and Rob, would be the fight that would determine who has control over the next fight.

Rob was ecstatic about getting a second chance, and felt revitalized since he got the nod to fight again. He wasn't as worried about fighting Corey as he was about Nate Diaz, since Corey didn't have as much experience, or knowledge, as Nate did.

We then found Corey and Jens jogging. Jens wanted to know, honestly, how many fights Corey'd said that he had in his fighting career. Corey said that he lied about his experience in his application, saying he had four, but that he really only had two. He just wanted to beef up his resume since everyone else had pretty impressive records. Jens told him to not worry about the records because they're just numbers.

Corey said he was ready for the fight. He'd done all of the things that he had to do, even when others didn't make weight. He sounded pretty peeved that he had to make weight for his first fight not once, but twice. Either way, he was going to go into the fight with guns blazing until he didn't have anything else to give.

Dana White was pretty impressed with Corey's size and talent, even though he didn't know much about the guy's experience. He looked forward to watching Corey and Rob fight since both guys looked to be pretty good strikers.

The Second Fight: Corey Hill (Team Pulver�6'4", 76" reach, 0-0) v. Rob Emerson (Team Penn�5'8", 71" reach, 8-6)


ROUND ONE

Both guys circled a bit. Corey hit a punch and knee and then clinched, but Rob pushed him back and knocked him over. Corey got up pretty quickly, though, and they circled again. Corey missed with a leg kick. I knew the guy was tall, but seeing how long his leg is makes him scary. If he hooks himself up with a good kickboxing team, he'll be pretty dangerous. Whenever Corey threw a punch he stepped in pretty close, which gave Rob the opportunity to land a punch. A couple of times both guys landed a flurry of punches, but nothing huge hit. Rob hit a few solid leg kicks that backed Corey up a bit. With about 10 seconds left Corey charged Rob, but didn't get to do much as he didn't have enough time. The bell rang to end round one.

My scorecard: The round was extremely close. Corey landed more shots, but Rob looked like he did more damage. I think Rob squeaked it out, though.

ROUND TWO

They circled for almost the entire first minute, then Rob threw a big leg kick but missed. He hit a punch and then a leg kick, and then circled some more. They clinched, and Corey pushed Rob to the cage, but Rob punched him away. Rob hit some more punches to keep Corey away. Corey was looking pretty tired, but kept pushing. He missed with a couple of punches and a leg kick. He went for a jab, but Rob countered with two punches. Then they clinched again and traded punches like in a hockey fight before backing up again. They clinched and punched a few more times before Rob hit a huge leg kick. Rob then missed with a superman punch and fell down, so Corey took advantage and jumped on him. Rob slipped out of Corey's grasp and actually applied a heel hook. Corey didn't tap, though, and the round ended.

My scorecard: Rob looked a lot more comfortable this round than Corey did. Once again they were both pretty even with the striking, but with Rob ending the round with a heel hook he took the round. So in my opinion, Rob should've won the fight via decision.

Dana White didn't agree with me (seeing how he punches, I won't squabble any), and announced that at the end of two rounds the fight was tied with a round a piece. This meant that the fight would go to a Sudden Victory Round, with the winner taking the fight. I think this is the first time that a TUF fight has ever gone into an extra round. If Rob wins, he'll accomplish another first since no other fighter in TUF history has ever come back after losing and won a fight...

SUDDEN VICTORY ROUND

Both guys looked tired. The action looked just like how it did in the first, with Corey hitting a lot of punches, but with not much behind them. The hits that Rob actually produced had some force behind them though. They clinched a lot, throwing a flurry of punches before backing up. Corey kept Rob away with jabs, and Rob kept Corey away with some pretty nasty leg kicks. By the end of the round, Corey was standing pretty gingerly on his left leg, as that was the leg that'd taken the leg kicks for the entire fight. With 10 seconds left, neither fighter looked like they were wanting to charge in on one another.

My scorecard: Hard to say. Once again, Corey hit more punches, but Rob looked like he did more damage. I'd say Rob won it again.

Your Winner: Corey Hill via unanimous decision.

WOW. The fight was really close, but I scored it on how hard the hits were. Dana White even said that at the end of the second round he had Rob winning by decision. In the third round though, both Dana and Pulver said that Corey won it because he pressed the action. He threw more punches, and Rob backed up and only hit when he had to. I can see the logic behind that, although I'd think that Corey might be hurting more in the morning.

After the fight, Team Pulver congratulated Corey. Corey then announced that that fight was his first fight ever. EVER. He'd never fought in a cage before and just won it by decision against a very tough opponent. Coach Pulver was shocked, as I'm sure a lot of MMA fans are as well.

So...Team Pulver goes up 5-1.

What's up for next week? Coach Penn gets fed up with someone on his team and gives him the boot. We also get the last two fights of the first round next week again!

Rock on.

Catch The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5 every Thursday on Spike TV. Check your local listings for broadcasts and replays.