Happy to be back for the week three recap of the show.  Kimbo vs. Roy.  Wow.  This is a fight that I would absolutely pay to see.  Kimbo’s heavy hands going against the all-around ability of Roy.  I could not wait for it.

The episode opens with the lighter side of Kimbo Slice.  Being stuck in the house for six weeks, led to a lot of self-reflection.  Many of the guys kept journals to help pass the time and to get their feelings down on paper.  I, however, chose to take that time to envision myself as the next Ultimate Fighter and that was reinforced whenever I would see Rashad and Keith Jardine.  They were in my shoes only a short time ago and now they are successful, UFC stars.  It helped push me through the tough times in the house.

Overall, Kimbo was a really good guy.  He worked really hard and was respectful towards every person in the house.  His persona as a backyard, street brawling thug is definitely inaccurate.  He is a family man that at the end of the day is just trying to earn a living for himself by becoming the best mixed martial artist that he can.  He was thrust into the limelight without a background in the sport.  I think he has done a great job considering where he was only a few years ago.  During training, I never heard him complain or say I can’t.  He soaked up everything that was passed along to him.  The only problem was is that he only had a couple of weeks to learn the years of skills that Roy possessed on the ground.  It was an extremely tough matchup for Kimbo.  It needed to be all standup for it to be in his favor. Roy is much different than Kimbo.  Roy is a self-made fighter that handles his own career.  He has been in the game for a long time, earning all the respect he has garnered in the MMA community.  I’m truly impressed with the caliber of fighter he is considering all the responsibility he takes on with his career.  He is well-rounded in every aspect of the word, but he is a real talent.  Rampage mocks his belly at times during the episode, but it is a huge advantage.  He is able to use it to pin you down and keep control.  It really is almost like a third arm and he uses it to his advantage. 

In round one Kimbo landed a couple of real nice shots to Roy.  I think it really stunned Roy, as did Kimbo’s initial take down defense.  But Roy, recognizing his obvious advantage, continued to work at getting Kimbo on his back.  He eventually did and was able to get him into the side crucifix and worked him over until the end of the round.  Round two began and ended with similar results.  Kimbo ultimately ended back in the side crucifix and Roy ended the fight.  I think Roy went into each round hoping to bang with Kimbo, but since it is a tournament, he was very intelligent and elected to take it to the ground where he would suffer much less damage.

In the end, another fight and another loss by Team Rampage.  Kimbo is eliminated. We are now down 3-0.  We will continue to work our butts off in practice and hope to turn around our fortunes.  Tune in next week.