It's the show that launched the mixed martial arts explosion in 2005, and The Ultimate Fighter continues to produce the next generation of UFC stars with an intense.

The Ultimate Fighter 2. Redemption episode 1 recap. A two- hour retrospective of the show’s first 2. The Ultimate Fighter’s big 2. Who has time to watch all this? Hey, didn’t you spend the afternoon trying to reason with women’s soccer fans tossing accusations at you like spaghetti being flung at a wall?

Right. Four hours of TUF it is. And the first two weren’t bad. Having spent a lot of my career at USA TODAY, I know what it’s like to aim something at a general audience while trying to throw in a few tidbits that might surprise the hard- cores.

They struck a pretty good balance. And they even went into TUF pre- history. The first sound after the intro was the wonderfully cheesy guitar theme for UFC 1, followed by Dana White’s abridged take on UFC history. But they weren’t. So they needed another TV vehicle. Dana said he didn’t like reality TV. It always seemed scripted to him.

Leave it to the ever- pragmatic Lorenzo Fertitta to deliver the best line: They were so desperate to be on TV, he said, that if the Food Network had called, they would’ve figured out a way to cook between rounds. Several TUF 1 alumni get camera time for interviews. Chris Leben, looking a bit like Matt Serra, marveled at the genius of the idea - - a bunch of young fighters in a house with a bunch of booze. The show also played up the classic Stephan Bonnar- Diego Sanchez asparagus showdown. Apparently, it still haunts Bonnar to this day.

I can’t relate. I hate asparagus. Of course Forrest Griffin is around, talking about getting so bored that he would literally climb the rafters? Just bored.”And they have to get into the “Do you wanna be a (bleep) fighter?” speech. Technically, it probably should’ve been “Do you mind if we don’t pay you for this? We’ll totally make it up to you.” But it worked. Last but not least in Season 1, it’s the Griffin- Bonnar Fight That Saved The UFC And By Extension Western Civilization. The ever- witty Bonnar recalls everyone, including Dana, being nervous beforehand.

• Fighters travel to Las Vegas with one dream, one goal - to become The Ultimate Fighter. Determination, Discipline, Excellence. These young men are accomplished.
• Who has time to watch all.

The “Can you believe this?” look on Serra’s face as he points to the belt never gets old. Next up is a series of “Best Of” segments.

The first “Best Moment” is Gabe Ruediger’s ill- fated weight cut. Some TUF alumni on camera seem to have mellowed with age. Rashad Evans pays sincere tribute to Rampage Jackson’s trash- talking prowess, admitting Rampage often got the better of him.

Urijah Faber says he enjoyed coaching against a certain brash Irishman. Jesse Taylor gets a lot of screen time, saying everything happens for a reason, and he has become a better person since being kicked off the TUF finale for his drunken rampage through Vegas. Julian Lane also is there, offering no rationale for “Let me bang, bro!” “It’s like, whatever, you know what I mean?” No. Showtime Full Laurel Canyon Online Free. I really don’t. Sadly, Junie Browning isn’t there to talk about his colorful TUF tenure.

And we wrap the retrospective with a look at the show’s impact. Executive producer Craig Piligian is pretty proud.

The show had drama, it had fun (curiously, they cut to the Noah Inhofer incident, which didn’t seem to be fun by any stretch of the imagination). Dana White returns to point out that each of the first four seasons produced a UFC champion. And it’s gone global, so Brazilians can see what happens when Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen get completely sick of each other. Fourteen warriors from past seasons return.”So that’s two hours down, two to go.

We start with a thoughtful Joe Stevenson. I ended up finding a friend in the bottle.”“Every one of them has a story,” the narrator intones. What do you think he’s going to say? Jesse Taylor says he’s been fighting an uphill battle to get back in the UFC for 1. We get flashbacks with a slight sepia tint.

James Krause never actually got in the house, losing his prelim to Justin Lawrence. Why is he here? My wife kicks me out of the room, and I have to move to the basement. Now meet the coaches. Cody Garbrandt walks in carrying a belt. Belated present for Demetrious Johnson?

Dana hypes up the season with a $2. Then, in a twist that probably made the first season’s cast scream, the fighters will get $1.

Ramsey Nijem pipes up to negotiate a finishing bonus. Dana makes that an extra $5,0. Didn’t they cut the budget for this show? The next segment is devoted to the B plot of this show, the Team Alpha Male soap opera.

Dillashaw left Alpha Male to work with Duane Ludwig. Guess who’s his assistant coach? Cody Garbrandt is still with Alpha Male and its fearless leader, TUF coaching veteran Urijah Faber. Guess who’s his assistant coach. Dana explains the season format.

No “hammer” this season. Teams alternate fight picks. All these guys have easily accessible fight records. But we’re still going to have “tryouts.” Garbrandt wants to interview fighters, which proves interesting when Gilbert Smith gets emotional, saying he’s one of the older guys and surely on his last chance.

Dillashaw wins the coin flip and opts to pick first. Watch Good Kill Online Hulu. No surprise: Krause. Watch Paul Kelly: Stories Of Me Online Free 2016'>Watch Paul Kelly: Stories Of Me Online Free 2016. Garbrandt picks Seth Baczynski. That surprises Dillashaw, who points out Baczynski lost his last fight to .. Jesse Taylor, whom Dillashaw immediately picks.

The rest of the draft: Cody: Mehdi Baghdad (TUF 2. Artem Lobov)TJ: Ramsey Nijem (TUF 1. Cody: Eddie Gordon (TUF 1.

TJ: Dhiego Lima (TUF 1. Cody: Hector Urbina (TUF 1. TJ: Joe Stevenson (yes, THAT one: TUF 2 champion)Cody: Hayder Hassan (TUF 2.

TJ: Tom Gallicchio (TUF 2. Cody: Julian Lane (TUF 1. TJ: Gilbert Smith (TUF 1. Cody: Justin Edwards (TUF 1. Garbrandt sets the first fight, putting his top pick against Dillashaw’s last. That’s Baczynski- Smith.

Geez, Cody — this guy pours his heart out to you, and you decide he’s the weakest link and needs to get put out right away? Harsh. Dillashaw immediately picks the second fight, scheduled for the same day.

He also selects his top pick, Krause, but he sends him out against Hector Urbina. Because Urbina turned up weighing 1.

Uh oh. I’ll have to confess here - - I’m going to be rooting for the old guys with glasses. I can’t identify with the Cody Garbrandts of the world, with no discernible line between facial hair and body art. Gilbert Smith? He looks like he works with me on the PTA. The show’s pacing hits a major lull. Hayder Hassan gets a random bit of screen time to give one of the most cliched confessionals since this show was old enough to have cliches.

But they return to rev up the Alpha Male drama. Garbrandt says he never liked T. J. At first, Cody figured it was just competitive friction. But now he just thinks Dillashaw’s a dickhead.

Cue the flashback to Conor Mc. Gregor baiting Faber, calling Dillashaw a little snake. Then back to Dillashaw, saying Team Alpha Male is like an ex- girlfriend.

He still looks and sounds too young to have a girlfriend, but maybe I just watch too much Tommy Toe Hold. But I think we have a TUF first: The first guy to get screen time talking about how much he enjoys listening to everyone else. Congratulations, Gilbert Smith. A flashback establishes context: In Smith’s TUF stint, Jon Jones picked him to fight first ahead of several teammates who may have had better arguments. His ex- wife keeps him grounded. His youngest son is 1. That’s older than my oldest son.

This guy seems tired. Back to Garbrandt training, where Cody says they’re correcting some basic stuff with Seth. That’s not a great thing to say about your first pick. Flashback to Season 1. Seth was thrilled to be with Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lost his fight to get in the house vs.

He beat Joe Henle, then lost on an illegal soccer kick DQ to Brad Tavares. Seth then went 4- 1 in the UFC and was looking like a contender for the title, Dana says. He lost three in a row. Dana says it turns out he was dealing with some personal problems, but now he’s ready to go. Then we get Baczynski’s horrifying family story. His younger sister was shot and killed. She had two kids.

He’s raising one; his brother has the other. On a happier note, he has a farm in Arizona, where he has five kids and a goat who seems confused about whether he’s a goat or a dog. And he’s thrilled to be back.