TUF Recap - 5/10 Episode 6

There was zero footage of the teams back at the house as the entire episode was devoted to the two fights. First up, Joe Lauzon vs. Brian Geraghty. Leading up to the fight, we are shown footage of Joe knocking out Jens Pulver in Joe's first UFC fight (UFC 63). Joe gets the early clinch followed by a hard slam landing him in Geraghty's guard. Lauzon immediately lets his first and elbows fly connecting on a few. Then Joe postures up high and attempts to drops a huge elbow. Brian saw it coming a mile away and rolled out before Joe could land it. As Geraghty scrambles back to his feet Joe pops up and hops on Brian's back, brings him down, and sinks in a rear naked choke. Victory by submission in less than a minute in a half. Dana Whites said to the camera "Lazon looked amazing." Jens says "The kid's good, he is good. I'm glad he's good that way I didn't get knocked out by a bitch." Brian says "I've never been embarassed before like that in my life." Next up, Cory Hill vs. Rob Emerson. Before the fight, Cory tells Jens that he lied during the application process and has only had two MMA fights, not four. As soon as the openning bell rings, Cory comes out and swarms Emerson with punches and a couple of knees. Although an impressive flury, it only lasts 15 seconds before Rob gets out of it. They measure each other up for a while until Cory secures a clinch. Emerson shakes off the clinch and we're back to them feeling each other out for the rest of the round. Cory's 15 second killer instinct seems to be amiss but he does enough to win the round by landing a few more punches and frustrating Rob with his enormous height and reach advantage. 2nd round. Emerson tries to work his way in by throwing some leg kicks with most of them landing. Rob gets in with a punch or two, then gets out, doing this for much of the round. Cory seems tentative. Very last part of the round Cory gets Emerson on the ground but Emerson scrables and get a pretty good heel hook in. He doesn't have enough time to sink it in as the clock runs out. First two rounds end in a draw sending the fight into a "sudden victory" round. Simiar to the two previous rounds, both stay on their feet and try to strike from a distance with Cory using his reach but not really inflicting any real damage. Emerson lands a few more nice leg kicks which seem to bother Cory a bit, but for some reason doesn't he doesn't follow up. Emerson held his own very well but ultimately didn't give it the extra effort needed to get in tight and land solid punches. Cory does enough to just get by and wins the fight. Afterwards Cory say "It's all about heart. At the end I let it all hang out." Not sure what he meant by that as he was reserved the entire fight. Dana say "Neither one looked overly impressive. I thought Emerson won." Emerson is disappointed and say he feels he won the fight. Back in the dressing room Cory goes on to admit that this was his very first professional MMA fight. I guess Dana new he had a limited fight record and experience but due to his raw talent and 6' 4" frame at 155lbs, he thought he was worth of the show. My opinion. Joe looked very solid, great killer instinct. The fight was so quick we weren't able to see all that he is capible of, but knowing he KO'd Jens, he's legit. Cory was a major letdown. Homeboy talked a huge game but come fight time he didn't deliver that big can of whoop ass that he said he would. Maybe it was just nerves, but he better get more comfortable in the Octagon if he wants to make it past the next round.