Sherdog's Guide to 'The Ultimate Fighter 10'

We begin this week with Coach Rashad Evans and Matt Mitrione having a little powwow over the physical fallout from Mitrione’s fight last week. Mitrione is claiming that things are still fuzzy for him, and it’s sort of painful watching him try and explain his ailments to a coaching staff that can’t be bothered about this stuff.

Team Rashad coach Trevor Wittman won’t sit idly while Mitrione spins yarns. Wittman rebukes Mitrione over his “brain swelling” claims, knowing full well that no doctor would allow Mitrione to continue or even train if he had tendered such wounds.

In short, Rashad and his coaches aren’t buying the stories anymore. They think he’s trying to figure out a way to slink out of the competition while still saving face.

“He has to want it more than we want it for him,” Rashad says.

Back at the house, James McSweeney is unloading his Mitrione thoughts to some of the other housemates.

“That punk is playing games,” says McSweeney, figuring that Mitrione just wants to put him on his heels and have him guessing who his opponent will be.

Rampage and Co. are continuing to prepare Kimbo Slice in the event he will be chosen to step in if Mitrione doesn’t continue. Unfortunately, Kimbo has tweaked his knee and the thought of having it abused by McSweeney’s kicks has Slice asking his coach, “So what the f--- do I do?”

Before we can get to any of that, we have the matter of the first fight between Brendan Schaub and Jon Madsen. Schaub has already got a good look at Madsen’s skills, and he knows what he’s up against.

“I just have to beat a wrestler,” says Schaub, still wishing he’d received a different draw so he wouldn’t be disadvantaged in the wrestling department.

Meanwhile Kimbo heads to the doctor, and his MRI reveals some missing cartilage on his inner knee. The doctor gives him a few options, one of which requires a needle that big Kimbo is adamant about avoiding. Makes you wonder if showing up at those old backyard fights of his with a hypodermic might have yielded a beard-and-body-shaped hole in the fence.

So Kimbo’s future is up in the air, but who cares: It’s time for everyone’s favorite moment in every season. Yes, that’s right, this week we have the coaches challenge!

The coaches challenge is a very humorous affair driven by greed and the great comedic void. This season, Dana White gathers the troops and throws down a $10K grip for the coach who wins in a sport neither has tried.

In a scene that would make the ghosts of Maverick, Iceman and Goose proud, Rampage and Tiki Ghosn face off in beach volleyball vs. Rashad and Mike Van Arsdale. It starts a little slow, but things pick up once the shine of sweat arrives.

“I gotta be honest with you. It turns into a really good volleyball game,” says Dana, who gets a kick out of Van Arsdale’s serious play.

Like most events this season, Rashad wins. Despite Rampage’s graciousness in defeat, Rashad goes ahead and tries to burn his chili by goading him about the money.

Back to Kimbo: His concern about his knee has him trying different methods, and he steps into a tub of ice water to rehab. From there, we catch the softer side of Kimbo, as he’s having trouble with the cold. The house erupts with laughter while Kimbo can’t handle the frigid water.

Back to the fight: Schaub feels snubbed by Rashad, who chose not to give him any pointers per his “hands-off” approach but had no problem showing Madsen a few feints. Schaub chalks it up to wrestlers loving wrestlers.

“I’ve got no choice. I’m going to fight,” says Mitrione before Rashad tells him that he’s going to go ahead and call Dana to inform him that Matt won’t be fighting. The coaches are annoyed with Mitrione’s hedging, and they want to make sure his replacement will get enough time to prepare.

But it wouldn’t be a TUF season without a stern lecture from Dana White, and the fighters are all sat down in the training center for the usual, what-are-you-here-for routine.

Time to find out if Madsen or Schaub will be moving forward on the show. Schaub has Madsen’s ground skills to worry about while Madsen will contend with Schaub’s sizable height and reach advantage. Madsen takes his first shot immediately, but Schaub holds him off. Madsen’s second attempt is a little more thorough, as he picks the former pro footballer off the ground and gently puts him on his back.

Madsen doesn’t put forth much effort once he gets on top of Schaub, and the two are separated after a minute or so. Schaub looks to have connected with a looping left, but he loses any steam once Madsen just elevates him again for another takedown. Madsen is content to ride out the remaining minute of the first round by smothering Schaub and winning the position game.

In the second, Schaub lands some good knees to the body and tries to find success in the clinch, but Madsen’s wrestling keeps him at bay. A minute or so into the round, Madsen begins to look fatigued. Sure enough, the first time he drops his hands for just a moment, Schaub thumps him with two straight right hands. The first one jars him and the second one fells him.

Schaub moves on with a KO win at 3:30 in the second round. He celebrates with a bow and then drags his thumb across his neck, baby-faced assassin style.

Nothing too wacky this week, but it looks like “Meathead” Mitrione and Marcus “Big Baby” Jones might have a big-time standoff next week that requires no pads or hitting drills. See you then.