TUF: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir Episode 4 Recap

This week’s episode starts off with all the fighters getting together to watch UFC 84 and Junie Browning and Shane Nelson get into a bottle of wine right off the bat. Junie and Shane pound the bottle of wine and then, to no one’s surprise, Junie starts talking smack to Team Nogueira, throwing peanuts at them and challenging all of them to a fight. Kyle Kingsbury throws peanuts back at Junie who doesn’t take kindly to it. He’s the kind of guy who can dish out the worst kind of punishment but when he gets any kind of resistance he crumbles.

Kingsbury throws a whole bowl of peanuts at Junie and Junie reacts by throwing a glass at Kingsbury which breaks and cuts his arm. Kingsbury notes that it was incredibly stupid for Junie to do such a thing because had it cut Kyle’s face, hand, or foot he might be looking at a quick ticket home without ever having fought.

Shane and Junie continue their antics, talking trash to Roli Delgado and shoving Efrain Escudero. Shane in particular picks on Efrain and talks a good game but Efrain can only laugh in his face which makes Shane even more mad. The two decide they’ve had enough of the rest of the house and take themselves downstairs for, you guessed it, tequila shots!

From this point forward stuff just gets out of hand. It’s like every season of TUF where the guys trash the house except it’s happening just four episodes in. Junie and Shane break all kinds of stuff by the pool, throw anything they can find into the pool, and just cause general mayhem. Krzysztof Soszynski has had enough of Junie’s antics and tries to calm him down and ask him just what the hell he thinks he’s doing. Junie doesn’t take too kindly to that kind of thing either and tries to start some stuff with Soszynski.

After things calm down a bit and Junie takes a dip in the pool, Soszynski throws Junie’s clothes in the pool and Junie goes on a rampage, trying to fight Soszynski and Ryan Bader. It’s just general mayhem for a good 20 minutes since the opening of the show. Junie obviously has anger management issues as well as a drinking problem. Later on he cries because he’s so out of control. That seems to be a common theme with him. Drink. Start controversy. Be happy. Cry.

The next day Dana White shows up and verbally rapes Junie and Shane, calling them “drunken retards” and calling Junie a “jackass” and a “punk.” Usually a visit from Dana means that someone is getting booted off the show but Dana, for some odd reason, finds it in his heart to let Junie stay and gives him another shot. And for acting like a tough guy, Dana says that Shane Nelson will be one of the competitors in the first lightweight fight.

The fight announcement is made and it’s Efrain Escudero vs. Shane Nelson. We get a glimpse of both fighters training. Escudero is a strong wrestler with good credentials while Nelson is an all around good fighter with strong BJJ and solid standup. Soon enough, it’s fightin’ time.

Efrain Escudero (Team Nogueira) vs. Shane Nelson (Team Mir)

Round 1:

Nelson lands the initial opening shot with a high kick and follows up with a right hand. The fighters clinch and trade knees from the position. Nelson eventually backs Escudero into the cage and the fighters jockey for position. Mazagatti eventually breaks them up due to inactivity and separates them. Nelson is getting the best of the outside game, landing some nice shots and Efrain is getting the best of the inside game with knees. Eventually Escudero takes Nelson down to the mat and takes side control. Escudero lands some nice elbows from side control. Nelson is able to get out of the position but Escudero takes half guard and stays busy with punches from the top as the round ends.

Round 2:

Nelson comes out aggressive and backs Escudero into the cage. Escudero is able to take Nelson down and work from Nelson’s guard but Nelson is making it hard for him to mount any kind of offense, playing a good defensive BJJ game. Nelson finds his way back to his feet but Escudero is able to suck his legs back out from under him and take him down against the cage where he’s able to score a bit with some small punches. Nelson is able to reverse position and rolls into a possible leg lock but Escudero is able to free himself and ends up on his butt. Nelson dives into his guard and Escudero baits him into the pass, sliding his leg up over Nelson’s left shoulder and locking in a deep triangle choke. Escudero is able to roll over and apply all of his pressure on the choke from the top, forcing Nelson to tap.

Winner: Efrain Escudero via submission (triangle choke)

After the fight Junie is screaming at Escudero that all the UFC needs is another boring ass wrestler. Escudero has nothing but smiles for Junie which enrages him and Junie takes it upon himself to jump into the cage and try to fight Escudero on the spot. He ends up having to be held back by Mir and Nogueira and that’s where the episode ends.

Next week it looks as if Anderson Silva comes to town to help out Team Nogueira and we’ll learn whether or not Junie Browning’s incident is the final straw that leads to him being kicked off the show.