Fightin' Words

By Matt Serra
UFC Welterweight champion

With one more win, we’d clinch control of the quarterfinal matchups. After a little bit of thought, we went with Ben vs Dan. I thought Ben could beat him anywhere, because he is way more well rounded. I really think he’s one of the top guys on the show, and given his age and ability, he is going to be in the UFC for awhile. Barrera definitely has a work ethic about him, you can’t question that, but he was more of a boxer than MMA fighter. Ben’s good everywhere, he’s well rounded.

By Matt Serra
UFC welterweight champion

Matt Arroyo got us on the winning side of things with an impressive victory, and we were looking to build off that. But before we get to that…more drama with Joey (Joey Drama?).

By Joe Fernandez

So the finals are set.

Episodes 11 and 12 concluded with two strong semifinal matches with one phenomenal comeback and nearly another.

The first hour featured Team Pulver's Manny Gamburyan vs. Team Penn's Joe Lauzon. Gamburyan did a great job of taking down Lauzon each round and keeping his weight on him in side control and half guard. Lauzon nearly pulled off a rear naked choke in Round 3, but Gamburyan rolled Lauzon off his back and slipped into Lauzon's guard. Gamburyan finished with a flurry of punches and grinded out the unanimous decision win.

"I don't really feel like I got beat up, but he won the fight," Lauzon said. "I was under his chin, I had it. I kind of had the short choke at first. I didn't have the regular rear naked [choke]. He shifted and I could feel myself fall off to the side."

Even though Lauzon lost his semifinal match, the Massachusetts native said he learned plenty from his Season 5 coach.

"He's unlike anything you've experienced," Lauzon said of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt BJ Penn. "Think of the first time you ever wrestled with anyone that knew what was going on. You're on your back, you can't do anything. You can't keep him in your guard, you can't pass his guard. You can't do anything. But you've been training for seven years and you think you're pretty good and decent and you're back at Day 1 when you don't know anything...and he's like that with everything -- stand-up, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, top, bottom, any position you can think of, it's like you don't know anything."

During the next episode, the second semifinal match featured Team Penn's Gray Maynard vs. Team Pulver's Nate Diaz. Even though Diaz went for plenty of submission attempts, Maynard dominated the first round and even bloodied Diaz's forehead. Diaz regrouped in Round 2, landed a solid knee to Maynard's head, and after a scramble on the ground, Diaz slipped Maynard into a guillotine choke from half guard and earned the submission victory.

In my opinion, I thought Maynard was going to walk through this competition. He reminded me of a 155-pound Matt Hughes; a guy that was going to use his wrestling to get to side control and earn the ground-and-pound victory in each of his matches. But Diaz showed plenty of character, toughness, and now he's one win away from earning a UFC contract. Good for him, and good luck to both fighters at the finale on June 23rd.

I want to thank the great media department over at SpikeTV for always making sure the fighters called me every Friday to get interviewed. And I want to thank all the fighters for not only being warriors in the Octagon, but being gentlemen out of it. They all were a pleasure to deal with -- no egos. Another reason why this is such a great sport to watch and cover.

Thanks to all the Fightin' Words readers for reading The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5 blog on Newsday.com. Fightin' Words has big plans for the summer. More mixed martial arts coverage and more MMA video. Until then, take care.

-- Joe

Here's the episode rundown:

Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 6: Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 4-1). Corey Hill wins by decision against Rob Emerson (Team Pulver, 5-1).
Episode 7: Gray Maynard wins by referee stoppage against Wayne Weems in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-2). Matt Wiman defeated Marlon Sims via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-3).
Quarterfinals
Episode 8: Joe Lauzon defeated Cole Miller by referee stoppage in the second round. (Lauzon advances to the semifinals).
Episode 9: Gray Maynard defeated Brandon Melendez by submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round. (Maynard advances to the semifinals).
Episode 10: Nate Diaz defeated Corey Hill by submission due to a triangle choke in the first round. (Diaz advances to the semifinals). Manny Gamburyan won by unanimous decision against Matt Wiman. (Gamburyan advances to the semifinals).
Semifinals
Episode 11: Manny Gamburyan earned a unanimous decision victory against Joe Lauzon. (Gamburyan advances to the finals).
Episode 12: Nate Diaz defeated Gray Maynard via submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round. (Diaz advances to the finals).

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5 Finale (SpikeTV) -- Saturday, June 23rd, 9 p.m. at "The Pearl" in Las Vegas.

By Joe Fernandez

Two fights. That's the way to do it.

Last night's episode of The Ultimate Fighter concluded with two more fighters advancing and completing the last half of the semifinals.

Corey Hill looked like he was going to overwhelm Team Pulver teammate Nate Diaz early on. Hill's reach and aggression looked like that would give him the edge, but Diaz regrouped on the ground and was able to sink in the triangle choke from his back in the first round.

The second fight featured Team Pulver's Manny Gamburyan vs. Team Penn's Matt Wiman. Like his first fight against Noah Thomas, Gamburyan came out looking to press the fight. The cameo by Karo Parisyan, Gamburyan's cousin, seemed to strengthen the Team Pulver fighter.

"No excuses," Wiman said, "but we didn't have the hammer the whole time. So for four weeks we just had to keep our weight down and we couldn't train because we were on three days notice...We couldn't train the way we wanted to, and I came ready to fight that day to the show. So basically, I tried to keep my peak for like four weeks. I was the last fight of the first round so I had to re-fight three, four days later, and 'Manvil' had three, four weeks to prepare for his next fight."

With Gamburyan earning top position and continually pushing the fight, the judges unanimously decided on Gamburyan as the winner.

"I had a bunch of opportunities to beat him," Wiman said. "I obviously didn't fight my fight and he did, so hat's off to him."

Here's where the teams stand after Episode 9:

Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 6: Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 4-1). Corey Hill wins by decision against Rob Emerson (Team Pulver, 5-1).
Episode 7: Gray Maynard wins by referee stoppage against Wayne Weems in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-2). Matt Wiman defeated Marlon Sims via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-3).
Quarterfinals
Episode 8: Joe Lauzon defeated Cole Miller by referee stoppage in the second round. (Lauzon advances to the semifinals).
Episode 9: Gray Maynard defeated Brandon Melendez by submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round. (Maynard advances to the semifinals).
Episode 10: Nate Diaz defeated Corey Hill by submission due to a triangle choke in the first round. (Diaz advances to the semifinals). Manny Gamburyan won by unanimous decision against Matt Wiman. (Gamburyan advances to the semifinals).

By Joe Fernandez

No filler fights here.

The Ultimate Fighter 5 quarterfinals have known nothing but exciting bouts so far. The second match in this round pitted Team Penn's Gray Maynard vs. Team Pulver's Brandon Melendez in a high-energy, fast-paced fight that saw Maynard advance after sinking in a guillotine choke midway through the second round.

"Gray's tough, but I felt like I should've beaten him," Melendez said. "He doesn't have the experience. I should've had the bigger weight advantage. I have like 36 fights total and he only had like four...but his wrestling was just world-class and he handled business like a soldier."

The fight began with Maynard getting a successful takedown. After he got to Melendez's back and attempted a choke, Melendez was able to roll around and get in Maynard's guard. Even though both fighters got back to their feet, Maynard scored a couple more takedowns and controlled Round 1. Melendez landed a few good strikes in Round 2, but Maynard's takedowns looked unstoppable as he earned the submission victory after a short scramble on the ground.

Something Melendez said that he's going to take away from this fight is to "have better endurance," he said. "You could be the best person in the world, but once you get tired you're worth nothing."

Another fight started outside the Octagon for Melendez as he was struggling to make weight for this fight. Andy Wang, who was eliminated by Melendez in the first round, helped the Utah native make weight.

"The first time I handled it well," Melendez said. "I did it by myself. The second time I had a little harder time for some reason. I got down [to] the last six pounds and they would just not come off. I did the sauna, I bundled up more. I was hitting mitts. Andy was holding them for me. I tried to go back in the sauna and immediately got real dizzy. I was having the hardest time. So I went to the gym and I just had to sprint as hard as I could. It took so long just to even get a sweat and once I had a sweat, Andy just kept me running, and running, and running and running. Then finally they started coming off...I sprinted to weigh-ins and I was there on the money."

Earlier in the episode, Melendez asked to switch from Team Pulver to Team Penn, but Jens Pulver and his coaches wouldn't allow the move.

"I just don't think Jens wanted to let me go because I was a good asset to the team at that point," Melendez said. "But before I left, I just told myself it would be nice to train with both coaches."

Here's where the teams stand after Episode 9:

Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 6: Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 4-1). Corey Hill wins by decision against Rob Emerson (Team Pulver, 5-1).
Episode 7: Gray Maynard wins by referee stoppage against Wayne Weems in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-2). Matt Wiman defeated Marlon Sims via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-3).
Quarterfinals
Episode 8: Joe Lauzon defeated Cole Miller by referee stoppage in the second round. (Lauzon advances to the semifinals).
Episode 9: Gray Maynard defeated Brandon Melendez by submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round. (Maynard advances to the semifinals).

By Joe Fernandez

More drama in and out of the Octagon for Episode 8.

With Dana White, BJ Penn and Jens Pulver sitting down and eventually setting up the next matches, the quarterfinals were underway.

Team Penn's Joe Lauzon faced Cole Miller. The match nearly ended as soon as it began as Miller got Lauzon's back and proceeded to sink in a rear naked choke. Lauzon turned, pulled guard and eventually escaped. With Miller on his back for most of the first round, Lauzon landed his shots, while dodging many Miller submission attempts. In the second round, Lauzon caught Miller with an illegal shot to the back of the head. Even though Lauzon seemed apologetic and the shot looked accidental, Miller never was able to turn the fight back in his favor. Lauzon lost a point for the elbow, but won the fight via a referee stoppage.

Before the fight in the Octagon, there was a fight back at the house as Noah Thomas and Marlon Sims started exchanging strikes and some submission attempts outside the house. The fight did not go over well with UFC President Dana White as both fighters, along with Allen Berube, who did his best Big John McCarthy imitation by starting off the action, were thrown out of the house.

Rest of the quarterfinal matchups:

Nate Diaz (Team Pulver) vs. Corey Hill (Team Pulver)
Matt Wiman (Team Penn) vs. Manny Gamburyan (Team Pulver)
Gray Maynard (Team Penn) vs. Brandon Melendez (Team Pulver)

Here's where the teams stand after Episode 8:

Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 6: Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 4-1). Corey Hill wins by decision against Rob Emerson (Team Pulver, 5-1).
Episode 7: Gray Maynard wins by referee stoppage against Wayne Weems in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-2). Matt Wiman defeated Marlon Sims via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-3).
Quarterfinals
Episode 8: Joe Lauzon defeated Cole Miller by referee stoppage in the second round. (Lauzon advances to the semifinals).

By Joe Fernandez

Episode VII: Return of Team Penn.

I guess that would look better if you can read this blog with the fading ascension of the Star Wars opening-credit text, but I don't know how to make that happen. Anyway, Team Penn has won three of the last four fights.

At the conclusion of last night's episode of SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter, BJ Penn's team swept the two-match card and brought the overall score to within, 5-3.

First match pitted Gray Maynard against Jens Pulver team member Wayne Weems. The fight began with Maynard connecting with a hard right, dropping Weems and gaining side control with Weems attempting to cinch a guillotine choke.

"I think I could've showcased my skills a little bit better than what I did," Weems said. "He got me with a solid punch and that kind of set the tone. I threw it at the same time he threw, and his connected and mine didn't. So that set the stage."

From there, Maynard got to Weems' back, hooked his legs and unleashed a torrent of punches until he earned the stoppage win.

"He had both hooks in," Weems said. "You have someone on your back pushing both your legs out from underneath you, there's not a whole lot you can do."

Second match up was Team Pulver's Marlon Sims against Matt Wiman. With both fighters throwing simultaneous right hands, Wiman's seemed to find the better location because Sims hit the mat.

"I was standing in front of Wiman and I threw my punch," Sims said. "And then I woke up on one knee and one hand with him on my back. I went black for that second and a half that it took for me to go to one knee and have him on my back. He got me right on the knockout point; right on that cheek bone, ear area that you really don't have any control over."

Wiman then managed to take Sims' back and choke him unconscious.

"When he slid his arm across my face to put the choke in, all the vasoline that was on my face went to his arm," Sims said. "I was frantically trying to grab a hold of his arm because I knew if I could grab a hold of his arm I'm so much stronger than he is, I could've peeled that arm off...I wasn't going to stop till I was unconscious. I'm never going to stop, I'm never going to tap."

As we've seen so far, Sims has told stories about his streetfighting background to the other fighters.

"I'm not one of those guys that looks away or walks away from bad things happening," Sims said. "I've been taught as a traditional martial artist, being a black belt (Kempo, Sambo) that the people like myself, who have trained like I have have a moral obligation to help people...You see a street fight nowadays and people just stand around and watch and think it's entertainment. I see a streetfight and I see two humans hurting each other and I want to stop it. Just because I stop it, I end up putting myself in harm's way."

The show was not without its drama as BJ Penn kicked Andy Wang off his team for not following Penn's and the coaches' directions. Wang would land on a very accepting Team Pulver, but was publicly unhappy about the move.

"He was a good guy in the house and I never had a problem with him," Weems said. "BJ didn't want him, we were happy to have him. Since I've seen the show and I've seen his reaction, it was a little disrespectful toward Jens and our team. The other team basically didn't want him anymore and we were going to accept him with open arms and he kind of turned his back on us."

Also, shoutout goes out to the press department over at SpikeTV. They are extremely helpful and they make sure the interviews are set each week, making my job a lot easier. So thank you!

Here's where the teams stand after Episode 7:

Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 6: Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 4-1). Corey Hill wins by decision against Rob Emerson (Team Pulver, 5-1).
Episode 7: Gray Maynard wins by referee stoppage against Wayne Weems in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-2). Matt Wiman defeated Marlon Sims via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 5-3).

Fightin' Words readers: Which would be the best quarterfinal matchups for The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5?

By Joe Fernandez

Two fights an episode? Not a bad idea at all.

Because of Gabe Ruediger's failure to make weight last episode, SpikeTV provided fight fans with another preliminary bout on this episode of The Ultimate Fighter.

In place of Ruediger, Rob Emerson was brought back into the competition for Team Penn. The penalty for Ruediger failing to make weight though was that Team Pulver had the next two picks.

Their picks? Team Pulver's Brian Geraghty and Corey Hill vs. Team Penn's Joe Lauzon and Rob Emerson, respectively.

First up was the Geraghty vs. Lauzon match. Lauzon came out truly looking for a fight, much in the same way that he did against Jens Pulver when he knocked out the former UFC lightweight champ at UFC 63. Lauzon took Geraghty to the ground early in the first round and delivered some elbows to the Kenosha, Wisconsin native. Eventually, Lauzon got in a good position and won by rear naked choke in the first round.

"He got on me real quick," Geraghty said. "I just never got my game going. He rang me with a couple of good elbows and before I knew it he was choking me."

With all the fighters remaining in the house after losses this season, there is plenty of time for a fighter to think.

"At first I was devasted," Geraghty said. " I was like 'I lost and I lost bad'. You start questioning are they going to have you back. Do you have another shot at it. I'm just back into training right now and waiting for the phone call. Hopefully they'll give me a call to go fight in the under card in the finale."

The second fight pitted Hill vs. Emerson, who appeared to have some problems against the reach of the 6-foot-4 Hill. After a first round that went to Hill, Emerson landed some devastating leg kicks in the second and just missed securing a heel-hook submission victory late in the round. As the fight headed to the third, Hill looked as if he was having difficulty putting weight on his left leg, which was battered by kicks and the submission attempt. With neither fighter really looking to finish the fight in the third, Hill earned the decision as Team Pulver took a 5-1 lead.

Here's where the teams stand after Episode 6:
Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 6: Joe Lauzon defeated Brian Geraghty via rear naked choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 4-1). Corey Hill wins by decision against Rob Emerson (Team Pulver, 5-1).

By Joe Fernandez

Ok, at least we're getting two fights next episode.

That was the only disappointing part of the fifth episode for me, the fact that there was no fight -- no punchline, no paycheck, and being a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and fan, no ridiculous submission victory.

It's not breaking news, but Gabe Ruediger didn't make weight.

He began his journey at 176 pounds and with the support of Team Penn, made it down to 162 before collapsing from dehydration and having to be taken away by an ambulance -- He would be fine by the end of the episode.

The failure to make the weight led Ruediger to be kicked out of the house by UFC President Dana White.

No fight this week, but here are the fights set for next week's episode:

Joe Lauzon (Team Penn) vs. Brian Geraghty (Team Pulver)
Rob Emerson (Team Penn) vs. Corey Hill (Team Pulver)

Emerson, who was eliminated in Episode 3, was placed back into competition by Dana White because of his impressive showing against Nate Diaz.

Team Pulver still leads, 4-0.

Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).
Episode 5: Gabe Ruediger eliminated due to a failure to make weight. (Team Pulver, 4-0).

By Joe Fernandez

This is not the way BJ Penn's team envisioned it.

With Brandon Melendez's unanimous decision victory against Andy Wang featured on last night's episode of The Ultimate Fighter on SpikeTV, Jens Pulver's team took a 4-0 lead against Team Penn.

"At first we had this attitude that we're the better team," Wang said. "Before the first fight we were like 'Yeah, they're all the guys that are leftovers'. After my fight, we're like 'Wow, what's going on here'. BJ and the coaches try to stay upbeat, but it was like 'this wasn't the way it's supposed to be'."

Melendez used his longer reach to his advantage. He outpunched and outpointed Wang in a fight that never made it to the ground, much to the dismay of Wang's coach, BJ Penn, who kept reminding the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt to go for a takedown.

"I'm learning at the highest level of the sport," Wang said. "You can't get away with any kind of lapses mentally or physically. I think I had a mental lapse. When Brandon knocked me down early in the first round, all the strategy in my head went out and the anger took over. At this level of the sport, you can't beat it like that. The best fighters in the world become champions because they master their emotions."

Here are the results after the first four shows:

Episode 1: Cole Miller caught Allen Berube with a triangle choke in the first round. (Team Pulver, 1-0)
Episode 2: Manny Gamburyan caught Noah Thomas with a kimura armlock in the first round. (Team Pulver, 2-0).
Episode 3: Nate Diaz defeated Rob Emerson via rear naked choke in the second round. (Team Pulver, 3-0).
Episode 4: Brandon Melendez defeated Andy Wang via unanimous decision. (Team Pulver, 4-0).

Joe Fernandez

For a second there, I thought I mistakenly put on the Discovery channel last night.

Did I just see a colonic?

Yep...we all did.

In an attempt to drop a few extra pounds, The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5 contestant Gabe Ruediger asked Coach BJ Penn and UFC President Dana White's permission to go get a colonic.

Wow.

"He should've taken care of that weight loss problem before he got on the show," TUF Season 5 contestant Rob Emerson said. "He should've prepared way better than he did."

On last night's episode, Emerson lost a tough fight to Nate Diaz, who won by rear naked choke in the second round. Emerson defended the take down well in an even first round against Diaz, whose older brother Nick used to compete in the UFC. Emerson's standup was solid and he was able to connect on some punches and inside leg kicks, but showed a limited ground game. Even though Emerson got tired in the second, he managed to take Diaz's best shots till the end and put out a tremendous effort.

"I thought it was a good fight," Emerson said. "I was happy with the performance, but I was a little dissappointed. I was gassed, I was tired. I didn't have the energy coming into the second round that I had in the first, and Nate did. He came out strong and stayed strong thoughout the whole second round, and I was like 'I don't have the cardio for this'."

With the win, Jens Pulver's team takes a 3-0 lead against Team BJ Penn. Now Allen Berube, Noah Thomas and Emerson have been eliminated.

Now after being tapped out, Emerson realizes the need for a solid ground game.

"I'm walking away from this fight knowing that at least I learned some [stuff]," he said. "Nate was the first guy that finished me submission wise. He was the first guy that was able to use his jiu-jitsu on me in the fight to where it affected the fight. He definitely made me respect jiu-jitsu for MMA. So I'm back in the gym now training full time."

By Joe Fernandez

The residue of these house beefs at least is finding it's way into the Octagon.

The second episode of SpikeTV's "The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5" brought more domestic drama and more of the same action in the cage. Not only is Jens Pulver's team 2-0, so is SpikeTV for having another entertaining episode.

Manny Gamburyan, who is Karo Parisyan's cousin, used a Parisyan-like judo takedown and earned side control position on the ground against Noah Thomas. The fired-up Gamburyan then applied a Kimura arm-lock and earned the tap that gave Jens Pulver's team the win.

"I should of came across like a bat out of h*** and I didn't," Thomas said. "Everyone that saw me fight was like 'dude, that wasn't you'."

It looked as if there wasn't going to be a wait for a fight after Blue Team's (BJ Penn) Rob Emerson scribbled an insult on the house wall for the Yellow Team (Pulver).

When Pulver's team returned from working out, Yellow Team's Nate Diaz called out whoever wrote the insult. Eventually, Gamburyan got the most worked up over the insult and let the Blue Team know it by calling out the whole team at one point.

"Me and Manny didn't get along," said Thomas, a retired Marine sniper. "I'm kind of a loud person. He didn't like being in the house. He didn't like being cooped up."

Even though Thomas lost his match in the second episode. He had the opportunity to work with former UFC welterweight champion BJ Penn for the rest of the season. So what was it like working with Penn?

"Awesome," Thomas said. "He's a good coach. He was showing jiu-jitsu advanced basics. Only being there six weeks, you can't really break down everyone's game. You have to work with what they have. So he was just working with what people already had."

Check back each Friday afternoon of this season as Fightin' Words interviews the last person eliminated each week from The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5. Thanks for reading.

By Joe Fernandez

The first episode of SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 debuted last night with 16 lightweight (155-pound) fighters vying for one contract.

One has already been eliminated.

Cole Miller caught Allen Berube in a triangle choke in the first round and eliminated Berube, who said he needed to improve on his own ground game.

"I'm still green," Berube said. "Every part of my game needs improvement. The only thing where I don't need improvement is heart."

Berube, a Maine native who owns "Monstah Lobstah," a restaurant in Tampa, Fla., was picked first to fight as Coach Jens Pulver's team had the first pick against the team that was coached by BJ Penn. The way the first episode was going, it looked as if the Yellow team, coached by Pulver, was going to pick the Blue team's Gabe Ruediger, who was heavier than the 155-pound requirement to fight.

"You know the show's for 155 [pounds], you can't go in the house 180," Berube said. Have a little respect for the show. He forgot what it was all about."

Berube also added what it was like to have Ruediger as a roommate.

"He's an a**," Berube said of Ruediger. "He's real, real cocky. Always said something to put someone down, make himself look better. I think it made him look worse. But everyone else for the most part was real cool. Even the other team, I got along with everyone."

The show, which begins each season with all the fighters working out with both coaches and then being selected by their respective coaches, hit a snag in that selection process when BJ Penn asked all the fighters who wanted to be on his team and not on Pulver's team to raise their hands.

Even though more than half of the fighters raised their hands, UFC President Dana White didn't allow it.

"It caught everyone off guard," Berube said. "You were just hoping that if you raised your hand, Jens Pulver wasn't going to pick you. If you're one of the last picks, Jens might have to take you. You get a little nervous toward the end of that thinking if I had my hand raised, Jens is going to pound me into the ground. He's not going to take care of me."

Check back each Friday afternoon of this season as Fightin' Words interviews the last person eliminated each week from The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5.