TUF Episode 11.3

This week's episode kind of started on a depressing note, as Team Ortiz fighter Chris Camozzi had to leave the show due to an injury to his jaw where had he been hit hard enough, it would have broken. This is a very unfortunate event for Camozzi, who initially looked to be a great fighter and I wish him the best.

As for Team Ortiz, they needed a replacement and brought in Seth Baczynski, who lost in his fight to get into the house. There isn't much to say about Baczynski other than his fight versus Court McGee was very close and it could have gone either way.

Moving on, I'm very happy everyone to my knowledge is at least healthy now. I don't need to hear any more about guys complaining about their injuries like last week. Anyways, this week's fight included Team Liddell's Brad Tavares and Ortiz's James Hammortree.

This was a good, not great, fight. There wasn't a ton of striking, but a lot of ground action that went back and forth. Tavares won a close first round that honestly could have gone either way, although I felt like he did enough to win it because he threw Hammortree to the mat and was able to attempt an unsuccessful rear naked choke. Hammortree would turn it around, gaining control of Tavares, but as we would see later in the fight as well, Hammortree had a tough time keeping Tavares on the ground.

The second round wasn't much different, but Hammortree did just enough to win the round, forcing a sudden death round three.

This round was once again extremely close as Hammortree took Tavares down a few times, but Tavares was able to escape every time. Eventually, Tavares ended up against the fence and delivered Hammortree some small strikes, which, in the end, may have won him the fight in a 10-9 unanimous decision.

Tito Ortiz was clearly upset with the ruling as he felt Hammortree should have won because of the takedowns. I really don't blame him, but it could have gone either way.

After the fight, Team Liddell now stands at 2-0 and keeps control of picking the matchups.

Aside from the fight, I have noticed that Ortiz seems to be a lot more vocal in coaching his fighters during their fights. I'm sure Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is yelling out to his fighters, but all I could hear is Ortiz. I have to give kudos to Ortiz on that fact, because if anything, as I noticed, it just drowns out anything Liddell is trying to tell his fighter.

It's also a good thing I didn't write this until today, because I found out yesterday that Ortiz has bowed out from his fight with Liddell at the end of the season, once again completely disappointing me. I couldn't wait for the Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson fight last year and I couldn't wait for the Ortiz vs. Liddell fight this year. For the second straight year, I've been disappointed. You can't get me excited by showing the coaches in each other's faces the entire season and then having one quit the fight.

According to UFC President Dana White, we'll find out why Ortiz pulled out during the season as he kept mum on the reason, which is very uncommon for him. White did announce Rich Franklin as the replacement for Ortiz, which for me, is definitely a step down as Franklin has lost two of his last three fights. However, it kind of makes sense to me because neither guy has had a fight in a while, Franklin last fighting last September and Liddell hasn't fought in a full year this coming Sunday. Naturally, I'll be cheering on the Iceman.