I watch me some reality television; Survivor, Top Shot, TUF. I’ve watched every season of the show since it began and the first season is what got me back into mma. That season is also what got me thinking about getting back into grappling and trying out mma. I started off with bjj and Muay Thai but dropped the striking after about a year. Adding the submissions from bjj to the control from wrestling was good enough for me.
I should’ve been writing TUF episode recaps all along. Granted this site is pretty new but here I had all of this writing fodder sitting right in front of me.
TUF 16 Episode 3 Recap – 9/28/12
Hatfields Vs. McCoys
One of the reasons the UFC went away from the live format of last year was because the viewers liked getting to know the fighers better. One way the UFC and TUF 16 accomplished this was by taking us back into the house for more than just a few minutes each episode. And when we get more footage of the house, we get feuds, pranks, and challenges.
I guess that hand slap cheater doesn’t like Matt Secor. And neither do I. Not because he might not be a great fighter but because he is from an area of NY that is very close to where my ex-wife is from. So yeah, he’s out.
And hand slap cheater is the guy from the 1st episode who faked like he was going to touch gloves and then shot for a takedown, check out the short video. And then later talk about repping the military and the Army. Please don’t. Not with that kind of integrity. His actual name is Colton Smith.
Personally, I would not be one of those guys who touches gloves before a fight. But I would not fake it either. At the start, when both fighters kind of look at each other, I would wave off a hand slap. We can shake hands after.
Nic decided cracking ivory billiard balls at 2 am was considerate, along with whistling, banging, and skipping rope with the door open. That is some courtesy. In the military those kinds of antics earn you blanket parties. Clark Kent, the accountant fighter with the tattoos that don’t fit, came out and said something. Seems to me that he might be the only one with testicles.
TUF 16 Episode 3 Recap – Fight Announcement
Joey Rivera (7-1, 72″ reach) vs. Sam Alvey (18-4, 76″)
Joey Rivera
Sam Alvey
2nd to last pick against the 1st pick. I like underdog fights and this is supposed to be one.
Alvey is from Wisconsin, has trained at Team Quest in the past, and has a girlfriend that was the winner of America’s Next Top Model. Okay, win, win, & win. But he’s a ginger so that negates all of that. He does have a great grin though. He also had the best reaction possible to a prank when some guys floated his mattress out on the pool. He didn’t react at all and simply went to bed on the couch. I think that Brazilian dude was way, way more worked up than Sam was.
When you react that way to a prank as Alvey did, it is much scarier for everyone else. Most people, especially hot tempered fighters, would explode and want to fight then and there. When you don’t, you leave everyone else wondering. When is this dude going to explode? Something’s coming but you don’t know what or when.
I can’t find much on Rivera.
Training Sessions
Rivera looked good in his sparring session with Roy. He looked fluid, sharp, and more of a fighter than he did in his previous fight.
Alvey looked tentative during his training and it appeared as though he was resting, taking it easier during the sparring compared to Rivera. I kind of thought it was telling.
TUF 16 Episode 3 Recap – Weigh In
We were treated to one guy in pink briefs and the other guy in an S&M wrap that he called his Spartan outfit. It made him too heavy though so he had to take it off.
Rivera looked huge for a 170 and Alvey looked skinny. Taller yeah but much less thick than Rivera.
Then we were regaled with a sexual energy story from Rivera that made very little sense and I have no idea why they even put it on the show. I was kind of listening and heard some of the stuff and thought, wait… what? He’s writing or reading a letter, mentions his wife, sexual energy, not always getting off, okay. He also seems to think that holding off on satisfying yourself makes you a better fighter. Not true. It has been shown that engaging in sex not only does not harm your performance but it actually boosts your testosterone production. This doesn’t mean moments before a fight but a few hours.
Don’t believe me? Check out Sport Science and sex before. Google it.
TUF 16 Episode 3 Recap – The Fight
Usually when a fight on the show starts that early into the episode it means that it will be going to a 3rd round. Nope. And thank god. Because Rivera won that fight. I would’ve been pissed if it had gone to a 3rd.
Round 1
Rivera opened up with some nice head kicks. They were crisp, accurate, and got Sam wondering. I thought this dude was a wrestler?
Rivera followed that up with a nice double leg takedown and ended up taking his back.
Alvey escaped, Rivera maybe got another takedown (I lost track,) and at one point had a standing arm triangle which can be finished or used to secure a takedown. Sam escaped that too.
Rivera looked tired by 2:30 of the 1st round and I started to worry.
But then he threw on a nice guillotine attempt which brought the fight to the ground. To escape this sub though Alvey basically had to flip over to relieve the choke and give up mount. But somehow they ended up back in guard with another guillotine attempt from Joey. It looked like by re-adjusting, Alvey made this choke even deeper on himself. Good call.
He escaped this one too and Rivera quickly threw up a triangle attempt and had it locked in. I was surprised by Rivera’s grappling offense.
Sam Alvey looked confused and tentative in the opening round. Despite his late flurry with like 5 seconds to go in the round, I easily gave this round to Rivera.
Round 2
Again Rivera opens with a head kick. Very nice, Borat style. This round has a bit more clinching and inactivity against the fence. Rivera seemed to always have an arm-in guillotine locked in but either wasn’t really listening to Roy or didn’t want to risk losing position and barely tried to switch to a no-arm choke which is much more devastating and easier to finish. Nelson kept yelling and showing him how to do it during the fight but whenever Rivera went for it, Alvey blocked him with his shoulder.
Rivera loanded a head kick that obviously connected with Alvey’s skull. His legs got wobbly and he stumbled a little bit like he was drunk or just learning to walk. This lead to another Rivera takedown.
More cliching along the cage, Herb broke them up a couple of times, and that was it.
Rivera won this round. Much closer than the 1st.
We got the little post fight interviews and I don’t know if the kicks to the head dazed him but Alvey seemed to not recall the fight as accurately as it went. He said something like “he got 2 takedowns, I got some, the head kicks didn’t land…” Ummm, he got like 5 takedowns, 2-3 choke attempts, 2 or 3 kicks didn’t land, but 1 sure did and some others did some damage.
That’s about it for the TUF 16 episode 3 recap, Carwin vs. Nelson. Did I miss anything? Leave a comment, pass this on via the Twitter or Facebook buttons. Ladies, pin this to Pinterest. Ha ha. Subscribe and enter to win.
Click here to read the next one, TUF 16 episode 4 recap. Or click here to go to fights4all.com and watch the show after signing up. See you fools next week.
TUF 16 Episode 3 Recap - #1 pick against a #14, who wins?
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