The Weekly Wrap: May 9 – May 15

TUF Coaches Play Tennis

Ross Pearson -- a 24-year-old Nottingham, England, lightweight -- took the spotlight on the latest episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as he defeated Richie Whitson. Pearson hit several effortless takedowns, eventually taking Whitson’s back and rolling into an armbar for the tapout 3:39 into round one. The win put Michael Bisping’s Team UK up 4-2 in matches with Team USA. An emotional Pearson talked about dreaming of the chance to fight in the UFC when he was laying brick in England. Pearson, called “Pitbull” by teammates, mixed up his strikes well against Whitson, though he threw one illegal knee while his opponent was on the ground. Whitson, an Alaska native, trains with Dan Henderson at Team Quest.

The originally scheduled fight for the episode, David Faulkner vs. Jason Pierce, fell through after Faulkner developed an infection near his shin; he bruised his leg doing core strength training drills with a sledgehammer and tractor tire. Faulkner was portrayed as questionable for the next TUF installment, as was Pierce, who suffered an ankle injury in his qualifying fight to get in the house. Pierce was also depicted as hesitant to train on the injury, and bad blood developed with his teammates. The episode ended with a tease that he may turn down the fight with Faulkner, a cast member he befriended in the house.

The show included this season’s Coaches’ Challenge -- a tennis match between Henderson and Bisping, both novices with the racket. Henderson took the match decisively, earning each member of Team USA $1,500 and $10,000 for himself. Bisping took the loss in stride but made sure to point to his July 11 fight with Henderson as the true showdown of significance between the two.

Last week’s episode drew a 1.1 share rating for 1.5 million total viewers, according to MMA Payout. In other TUF news, word began to circulate that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will coach on season 10, which will begin filming this summer and will debut in September. The other coach could conceivably be the winner of the Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida title fight at UFC 98 on May 23.