Episode 6 begins with the sight of Darrill Schoonover drinking early in the morning before practice. Wow. It would be one thing if Darrill had already fought and was safe for a few more days, but at that point he had not even advanced. Rashad or Rampage could call his number at any time.

Rashad noticed that Darrill was sluggish during practice and after McSweeney spilled the beans, Rashad was forced to pull Darrill aside and explain to him the opportunity that was in front of him.

Darrill is a darkhorse during the competition, but he is undefeated in his mixed martial arts career and is an extremely tough competitor. Rashad wants Darrill at 100 percent and Darrill got the message. He put the drinking on the back burner until after the show.

Darrill was obviously the main focal point of this episode. Besides his drinking problem to start the show, he also reached his boiling point with Rampage.

The episode did a great job of showing how relentless Rampage can be. Now imagine that type of heckling over the course of six weeks and that is what Darrill was forced to endure. “Titties” is not exactly a term of endearment and Darrill had enough. That is two Team Rashad fighters that have approached Rampage in a not-so-friendly manner. It gives you an idea of how talented Rampage is at getting under the skin of a competitor.

It also helps that Rampage can back it up. He fights at 205 pounds, but walks around at a much heavier weight. He is also scary athletic. But anyway, Rashad did the right thing in stepping up to Rampage and deflecting the attention away from Darrill. Darrill was close to snapping. Crisis averted. Zak Jensen vs. Darrill Schoonover: First thought was that Darrill would have the edge. He has strong jiu-jitsu and a pro boxing background and like I said, he’s undefeated in his career. Zak, on the other hand, has a strong chin and can wrestle a little.

In addition to this, we were hoping that all the taunting and heckling would unleash an animal in the octagon. That is where the name Linderman came from. We wanted to create an alter ego to Zak. Zak was too nice and non-confrontational. Linderman would be the complete opposite. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

One of Zak’s biggest issues is his confidence. He seems to be fighting himself at all times and in effect, has two opponents every time he is out there.

Round 1 begins and Zak seems like a different man. Moving with a little more fluidity and seems to have a plan. The game plan was to get Darrill to the ground and control him from there since Darrill had the advantage standing up. At the beginning of the round Zak eats a few knees to the midsection and some hard punches to the face. After being moved to the cage by Darrill, Zak goes in for the takedown. Success.

However, Darrill’s strong jiu-jitsu prevails as he moves from closed guard to a triangle choke position. Zak is caught and unable to escape. Similar to Sims before him, Zak refuses to tap and goes to sleep. Victory Team Rashad. I am starting to side like an old record, but hopefully we can pull a win off next week. Team Rashad 6, Team Rampage 0.

That is all for this week. Until the next time!

Marcus Jones