By Neil Davidson
THE CANADIAN PRESS
It’s the Jamie Yager show on Episode 4 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as the truculent middleweight with the heavyweight Afro dominates action in and out of the cage.
The episode, which first aired Wednesday night, is titled “Clown Box.” Watch in HD on Rogers Sportsnet (check local listings).
Producers of the reality TV show have wasted little time depicting Yager as the Season 11 sandpaper. A member of Tito (The Huntington Beach Bad Boy) Ortiz’s squad, Yager has already clashed with fellow cast members over firing off air horns in the middle of the night and traded barbs with Canadian teammate Nick (The Promise) Ring in the training room.
This week, Yager is chided by Ring for cheering for Brad Tavares, a friend and member of Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell’s team who beat Ortiz fighter James Hammortree in last week’s episode.
“You put on a red team jersey, you cheer for your red team,” Ring told The Canadian Press by way of explanation. “You can be friends with the blue team afterwards, but not during the fight, that’s for sure.”
Back at the fighters’ house, Yager chooses to hang out with Ortiz teammate Kris McCray and Team Liddell fighters Tavares and Kyle Noke, dubbing them “the Minority Report.”
Yager is also accused of theft by teammate Kyacey Uscola, who finds one of his sweatshirts hanging up in the closet of Yager’s room. The incident leads to a prolonged, potty-mouthed exchange between the two — the bleeps come fast and furious.
“I love that about Kyacey,” Ring said with a chuckle. “He will speak his mind.”
It turns out McCray picked up the sweatshirt, but the battle lines are drawn. Yager is also accused of walking off with gear from the gym, but an assistant coach backs him up by saying he had permission to take it.
Episode 4 features two fights with Rich Attonito beating Uscola to extend Team Liddell’s record to 3-0 before Yager stops Charlie Blanchard in the first round to give Team Ortiz its first win of the season.
Attonito, who trains with American Top Team in Florida, drops Uscola early in the fight and hammers away at his grounded opponent. But Uscola absorbs the beating and eventually manages to reverse position, locking on a kimura before taking top position.
But as Attonito looks to get up, Uscola delivers two knees while his opponent has a knee down. A dazed Attonito is unable to continue and a distraught Uscola is disqualified.
Uscola argues the call but the ruling is he has illegally connected with Attonito’s head.
Uscola believes Attonito is milking the moment and a similarly irate Ortiz trashes a door at the UFC Training Center.
Ring said he didn’t get a good view of the knees, so couldn’t speak of their legality.
“Now that being said though, I think Kyacey showed some big balls fighting like that,” he said in an interview. “He went from getting his ass kicked to totally turning the fight around.
“There’s not many fighters that have that ability.”
Attonito breaks his hand in the bout, saying his days of fighting on the show are over. But there is no official resolution in the episode.
Yager, who at 6-1 has five inches on Blanchard, posts a convincing win next. He fights off a takedown attempt from Blanchard and then fells him, hammering him at the fence until the referee steps in.
The Yager win gives Team Ortiz control of fight selection next time out.
“I don’t they (Team Liddell) anticipated Yager being as hard to take down as he was,” said Ring.
Blanchard, a ground fighter, was also hampered with an ankle problem. News of that injury came out the first day of filming when a fellow fighter asked about it, Ring recalled.
“Charlie said ‘ Yeah, it’s pretty sore. Thanks for telling everybody.”‘
Before the bout, a different side of Yager emerges as he talks about his troubled background.
“I didn’t always have a strong family foundation,” he said.
Said Ortiz: “He came from nothing, so he’s always defensive on every situation. His whole life he’s had to defend himself, no matter what he’s done. I understand it because I came from the same situation that he has.”
After the fight, Yager takes over the team huddle to say he had won for his teammates.
Ring recalls not being convinced at the time. “Actions speak louder than words,” he said.
“I don’t hate the guy or anything,” he added. “He does act decent some times. He likes to cause a lot of trouble, too. You have to take him not too seriously. Half the time he’ll be nice, half the time he’s trying to push your buttons.”
But while Yager may be an irritant at times, he can fight, says Ring.
“I’ve got to hand it to Yager. I think he actually is a very good athlete. He’s got a lot of natural skill in MMA.”
In the first two fights of the season won by Team Liddell, Noke submitted Clayton McKinney and Tavares won a decision over Hammortree.
Ortiz remains coach through the end of Episode 4. His future on the show was cast in doubt when it was revealed Liddell will face Rich Franklin rather than Ortiz at UFC 115 in Vancouver on June 12.
The UFC has offered no reason for the switch, telling askers to watch the show to find out what happens.
