Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 19, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 19, 2017 This badboy debuts tonight (tomorrow over here i think). It's the most interesting set-up in ages and has a genuinely intriguing team captain set up. Look at this rogues gallery...  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Southworth Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 The first episode was pretty good. I thought Garbrandt came off really badly. He was constantly trying to dominate TJ, both physically and psychologically, wanting to put him in place, but TJ was generally having none of it. On the occasions TJ did respond, Garbrandt tried to portray it as TJ being the bully and looking to play the victim. It was a remarkable lack of self awareness on Garbrandt’s part. If Garbrandt is like this for the rest of the season, so completely unlikeable, then he is going to end up as a major heel and if he can get past TJ, Garbrandt facing Demetrious Johnson might actually get some serious interest because Garbrandt playing off of Johnson could be a heck of a dynamic. As for the fighters, Hector Urbina did himself no favours in coming in so heavy and it looked like he’d quit long before he pulled out of the fight. Seth Baczynski and Gilbert Smith came across as real nice guys and it was unfortunate that one of them had to lose. Most of the fighters, actually, are coming across as people you’d real like to see make it, so this season looks like it has a lot going for it in that aspect, because you’ll want to stick with it and see who can keep going and achieve the aim of the show, redemption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Moo Posted April 25, 2017 Admin Share Posted April 25, 2017 This should be a fun series and obviously the two coaches are great choices. First episode was good - and I was glad Smith won as he seemed like he was lacking a lot of confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted April 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 25, 2017 Yeah, a shame it looks like I'm going to start hating Cody again, after his big babyface turn after the Cruz fight. Similar to the Cruz build, he comes across as a bit of a meat head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Southworth Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Cody is increasingly coming off as such a selfish hothead. The guy flies off the handle at the slightest provocation, with the smallest slight responded to with violence. Then when Eddie Gordon lost, Cody couldn’t wait to talk about how he hates to lose and how he’s doing all these things for his team. It was like assessing Eddie’s performance or even just consoling the guy was secondary to letting everyone know how he felt, with Eddie’s feelings, professional or otherwise, taking a backseat to the Cody Garbrandt Show. And when Cody’s doing the talking head pieces, he’s got the Stepford Wife look, like he’s trying very hard to remember how to say the things he thinks he should say, whilst not believing any of it. TJ isn’t perfect but he’s coming off so much better than Cody is. The actual fight wasn’t too bad. Eddie was having good success on his feet but once Tom got hold of him, it was like Eddie forgot the training we had just seen him do. He went for the ankles instead of the arms or the grip, and left himself open to getting choked out. So far, it’s looking like a season where all the drama involves the coaches, and I think that’s a good thing for all concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted April 28, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted April 28, 2017 I managed to get through the opening 2 episodes last night and I found it really enjoyable. Whilst Cody is quite obviously a hot head, it's quite clear that he's just not that intelligent. That said, I'm not buying any of this sympathy for TJ either. It's clear the guy is a sleazy bastard as well so it all comes down to whether you root for the idiot or the sleaze? In all honesty, I find both sides idiotic when it comes down to this whole TJ leaving team alpha male. Faber seems bizarrey childish about the whole team dynamic, yet TJ can't see what was wrong with him deciding to pack up and do an entire camp with another gym? According to TJ he says he just wanted his whole fight camp for Cruz in Colorado with Ludwig, but still wanted to be part of Alpha Male. How he can't see this wasn't feasible is beyond me? How does he expect Faber to accept someone believing someone else's gym is better than his for fight preparation? That's potentially business suicide. Say if Dillashaw did beat Cruz then what? Pick and choose which camp he wants to train at? How TJ can't see this is beyond me. I also believe that TJ is manipulating the situation to create sympathy. I've heard mentions of a bullying element being branded about Garbrandt's team with TJ. But during every confrontation his coaches, and Ludwig conveniently, are nowhere to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Southworth Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 Cody definitely seems like a guy whose overall intelligence and maturity doesn’t match his fighting ability. The way Cody behaves and acts towards other people seems so rudimentary, like he doesn’t know how to do any of those things past a very basic level. He loses it at the tiniest perceived slight, as if violence is the only way he knows how to react when he feels threatened. When he talks to people or deals with them, as we saw after the fight when talking to Eddie Gordon, Cody always turns things back around so they centre on him. And he always finds a way to put any blame for any negativity on someone else. It’s like the idea of trying to see things from someone else’s point of view is something that is beyond him. As far as Cody is concerned, it’s all about Cody and always will be. As you said, TJ isn’t much better, at least in terms of being able to see how others view him, but it doesn’t matter. TJ literally has to just stand there and Cody makes himself look bad without help from anyone else. And that’s what makes TUF compelling viewing, at least for me, because I can’t wait to see the latest way in which Cody makes himself look bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 4, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 4, 2017 just got the first two episodes in the can, the format is familiar but the backstories make it interesting enough to keep me invested. Not quite sure to make of the Garbrandt/Dillashaw at the moment. There's a lot of bickering and no one can really agree on why they actually fell out, I do feel like it's being edited to make us feel a little sorry for Dillashaw though. There was a scene in episode 2 where Dillashaw went at it with Alpha Male and in the next scene after Dillashaw stood his ground it showed him sitting with his head down. It was subtle but it felt like they are editing to drive home the victim thing that Garbrandt keeps harping on about. Fight-wise it's been alright so far, was happy to Tom Gallichio win, he always seems like a bit of an underdog and comes off as a likeable goof. No real words for Hector Urbina missing weight though, i don't know how much notice he had to do the show but there can't be much of an excuse to miss weight at the start of a show like that. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Southworth Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 This week’s episode was a little flat. There wasn’t any drama and the fight was almost entirely one sided and there was no real doubt as to how the decision would go. I hope Jesse has truly changed because it would make a great story for him to gain redemption on the same show that precipitated his fall from grace. As ever, though, Cody comes off like a dick, a complete bell end, and Dillashaw looks good just by standing there and laughing it off. They might be editing things to paint Dillashaw in a sympathetic light, but they almost don’t have to bother. As long as Cody keeps being Cody, Dillashaw just has to not do anything stupid and he’ll come off as sympathetic for having to put up with someone like Cody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted May 5, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 5, 2017 Between everyone having a backstory and the Garbrandt-Dillashaw heat, this is looking like the best season since the one with Bruce Leroy and Fisherman With A Deadly Finisher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Moo Posted May 6, 2017 Admin Share Posted May 6, 2017 It's a weird season for me, on paper TJ & Cody's rivalry should be riveting but seeing two grown men bicker in a fundamentally unimaginative and schoolyard fashion is absolutely not entertaining in any way. Neither of them have any wit about them whatsoever. What's really weird is this has the potential to be a fight of the year (or beyond!)Â when it happens, but outside of the cage I couldn't give a fuck and want them to just shut up. They're both really quite dull. The fights so far have been decent I think and I've enjoyed it. The back story of each fighter is compelling but because there's so much at stake for them it's kinda hard to enjoy someone winning unless the other dude is a total dick, because there's a real air of finality about it for the loser! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 6, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2017 Yeah, I think I'm meant to be enjoying the Cody vs TJ handbags more than I am. It's coming off like a girl argument. Like a girl (TJ) got a new friend (Ludwig) who was hot and popular at the time. She started spending more time with her new friend so her old clique (TAM) resented that and pushed her out of the group. Then the girl she really used to look up to in the group (Faber) found a new BFF (Cody) and now she (TJ) kind of misses the old days but it's all gone too far to be fixed. Even the thing about Cody supposedly KOing TJ in sparring and threatening the video seems like teenage girl shite. Like 'I've got a video that PROVES you're a slag. Don't make me show everyone lol'. It all seems so childish and it takes me right out of it. I forget they're supposed to be hyping a fight sometimes. It's like watching one of them fuck awful 'Real Housewives Of....' shows. When you actually break down the issues it's all such trivial bollocks that could've probably been sorted and nipped in the bud ages ago if the parties involved talked it out like adults instead of bitching behind each other's backs, pretending there was no issue all the while the resentment and bitterness was bubbling up under the surface. Like Moo says, I expect the fight itself to be incredible but this bad blood between them isn't really doing it for me. For a camp that calls themselves Team Alpha Male, they aren't half a bunch of divas. It's like Keeping Up With The Kardashians but without the ludicrously big fake arses. Where's the fun in that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Southworth Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 33 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: For a camp that calls themselves Team Alpha Male, they aren't half a bunch of divas. It's like Keeping Up With The Kardashians but without the ludicrously big fake arses. That's the part that I find a perverse measure of entertainment in. They try to behave like they're these real, macho men, but the moment things don't go the tiniest bit their way, they lose all self control and start behaving like children. I agree with Moo that it's hard to really enjoy one guy winning because you want the other guy to win just as much. Everyone seems so honest and sincere in wanting to achieve the redemption the series is built around that you want them all to win. But they can't. Right now, I'm hoping Jesse ends up winning, if only because it'll meant his story will have come full circle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 6, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 6, 2017 Yeah, Jesse or Joe Stevenson for me. Jesse would be a cooler story but Joe Daddy's the proper old school guy in there. Fucker's been fighting forever. He was pretty much a grizzled vet when he won TUF 2! He's never been the same for me since the night BJ Penn took his soul in Newcastle. I was there that night. I nearly called the police to report an attempted murder. He had the odd bright spot after that (the Nate Diaz win springing to mind) but it was always fleeting and he never found consistency or became a contender again. It'd be nice to see him at least reach the finals. They do all seem like good guys in general. But I still think Julian Lane might have another meltdown in him. At least he got rid of that red mohawk, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted May 7, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 How long has TUF been going now? It's quite weird seeing how much Dana has changed physically over the years. He's so much wider now. I remember watching a video a number of years a go. Where he's benching 300lbs, I think. Although that does seem to be a ridiculous weight for him to be benching. Is he a gym nut, in a similar vein to Vince? I hadn't realised that Joe Daddy was one of the competitors. I'd assumed he was one of the coaches. I can remember him being one of the favourites on TUF 2. Wasn't he also part of that scarecrow exercise challenge they had in that series? Jorge Gurgel got upset after Franklin tactically forfeited. After Matt Hughes guys had killed themselves in the scarecrow challenge, in setting a crazy benchmark. Those early TUFs were great. This one has a similar feel about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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