The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir - Episode Seven Recap

By Thomas Gerbasi

CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED – Thanks to Junie Browning’s win over Roli Delgado, Team Mir has evened the score with Team Nogueira at two wins apiece. Will the former heavyweight champ’s squad be able to pull into the lead on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir this week?

After the hard-fought three round battle that ended last week’s episode, Delgado rightfully gets praise from members of both teams for his gutsy effort. In the other locker room though, Coach Frank Mir gets on Browning.

“You just went three rounds with Rolando,” said Mir. “I expect more from you, you should expect more from yourself.”

Browning agrees, vowing not to repeat the performance again.

The light heavyweights are up next, and Mir has to choose from Krzysztof Soszynski and Vinny Magalhaes for this week’s bout against either Kyle Kingsbury or Jules Bruchez.

In the gym, Nogueira keeps the mood light while still working his team hard. “Sometimes they need to have fun with their training,” said the interim UFC heavyweight champion.

There is no fun for Team Mir though, as Wanderlei Silva’s conditioning guru, Rafael Alejarra, has been brought in to put the team through a vicious workout that includes the now legendary snorkel training.

Back at the house, Team Nogueira is preparing for their coach’s birthday by baking a couple of cakes and making dinner. Nogueira is visibly moved by the gesture, which just draws snickers from members of Team Mir.

When the two teams convene in the gym, the fight announcement is made, as Magalhaes (2-2) will take on Bruchez (0-0). Bruchez is motivated to fight Magalhaes, who he feels won’t be able to stand with him, but the general consensus is that Magalhaes’ ground game is just too good for Bruchez.

Speaking of ground games, the word around the house was that Magalhaes was taking issue with Nogueira’s acumen on the mat. This got back to Nogueira, who wasn’t too happy about it. He proceeded to let Magalhaes know how he felt, and while the Team Mir denied talking bad about the former PRIDE champion, Nogueira was having none of it, saying “Now we’re enemies.”

In a less tense moment, Soszynski was back to his old tricks, placing a body bag, fake candles and a rest in peace headstone on and around Bruchez’ bed. Bruchez took the prank in stride, saying, “I think it’s the best one (prank) ever.”

Fighting Magalhaes was no laughing matter for Bruchez though, and after eating a series of hard kicks, Bruchez went to the mat with his opponent, and it was lights out after Magalhaes quickly locked in an armbar that ended matters with less than two minutes left in the opening round.

After Team Mir’s third straight win, they move ahead in the competition, 3-2, while keeping control for next week’s bout pick. Here’s how the teams look:

TEAM MIR
Krzysztof Soszynski
Vinny Magalhaes 1-0
Elliot Marshall 1-0
Tom Lawlor – Eliminated in week three by Ryan Bader
Junie Browning 1-0
Shane Nelson – Eliminated in week four by Efrain Escudero
Dave Kaplan
George Roop

TEAM NOGUEIRA
Ryan Bader 1-0
Shane Primm – Eliminated in week five by Elliot Marshall
Kyle Kingsbury
Jules Bruchez – Eliminated in week seven by Vinny Magalhaes
Phillipe Nover
Efrain Escudero 1-0
John Polakowski
Roli Delgado – Eliminated in week six by Junie Browning

For weekly recaps of The Ultimate Fighter, as well as fighter profiles, stay tuned to UFC.com.