Spike TV

The cast of The Ultimate Fighter No. 10 poses for a shot for the popular reality show that debuts on Sept. 16 on Spike TV.

By Brett Okamoto

Published Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 | 9:02 p.m.

Updated Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 | 1:22 p.m.

Tenth episode of The Ultimate Fighter has arrived, highlighted by a semifinal match between Brendan Schaub and John Madsen.

With all the injuries to the heavyweight division lately, hopefully these guys are ready to step into some big shoes pretty soon in the UFC.

And as the show begins to wind down, sad day for Rampage fans who won’t get to see him fight again the foreseeable future. When does the ‘A-Team’ movie come out again?

The Episode:

Episode stats with Mitrione revealing his recent problems have come from swelling of the brain?? That turned into a migraine. Trevor Wittman, assistant coach for Team Rashad, calls him out, saying swelling of the brain is a life threatening thing.

I hate to say it, but my guess is that this is all for show. I just don’t see Mitrione pulling out and giving Kimbo his spot.

And now it looks like Kimbo might not even be able to take it anyway, he hurt his left knee rolling with Demico Rogers. Geez, even these heavyweights that aren’t in the UFC can’t stay healthy. This is a cursed division right now.

This show is really trying to make us believe that Kimbo can come back though. An entire segment is dedicated to Rampage training Kimbo on how he could still beat James McSweeney if he takes Mitrione’s place.

Attention turns to Schaub’s training for Madsen. I like Schaub, I’ve liked him since the beginning. He’s facing a wrester in Madsen, which can be dangerous, especially in a two-round fight where a wrestler can control a fight and avoid getting knocked out in 10 minutes. But I like Schaub’s chances, he’s my early pick.

Doc says that Kimbo has worn out a cartilage in his left knee. He promises he’ll still fight again.

Haha and here’s a twist…Beach volleyball at The Palms between Rashad and Rampage. Rampage has never played volleyball but likes it when girls are playing in short shorts. Ten grand on the line for the coaches and an extra $1,500 for the fighters of the winning coach.

Team Rampage wins the first game and loving it. There’s a Top Gun reference here. I’m searching for it.

Team Rashad wins the second game. This net is getting torn down if Rampage loses. There it is. Dana White compares Rashad’s teammate to Maverick of Top Gun. I knew it.

And Ream Rashad wins the final game 15-13! Rampage can’t catch a break. Rashad shakes his hand while holding a huge stack of cash. Rampage says he doesn’t care about the cash and Rashad challenges him to pay each member of his team the $1,500 they would have won. Rampage answers his team would rather see him knock Rashad out.

Next training session, Schaub seems a little ticked when Rashad spends the entire day coaching Madsen. Madsen is planning the typical strategy of looking for the takedown when it comes while mixing in some standup. This fight will probably hinge on whether or not he’s successful in taking Schaub down.

Rashad talks to Mitrione about his decision to fight or not and Mitrione says he’s tired of this dramatic stuff and can’t wait to get back home to his normal life. Yeah, it’s time for Mitrione to just be out of this thing. Rashad says he’s ready to make Mitrione’s decision for him.

Dana White comes in and delivers a speech to the group…but really just to Mitrione. He basically says that if a fighter doesn’t want to be there, please leave so that others can have the opportunity that want it. I still just don’t think Mitrione is pulling out of this thing. Maybe he loses terribly to McSweeney. But he’s not quitting.

Back to the semifinals: Schaub vs. Madsen. Schaub shakes his head at Madsen’s move to touch gloves. Interesting move there. Long feeling out time here to start the fight, both guys starting pretty conservative. Madsen shoots the takedown and easily takes Schaub down. Madsen not doing much from the top position but making it pretty impossible for Schaub to get off his back. Referee Josh Rosenthal tells Madsen he needs to advance and eventually stands them up. Madsen shoots a takedown again and this time Schaub defends, but Madsen still shoves him up against the cage in a clinch. Schaub appears to land a decent uppercut when Madsen shoots again but Madsen scores the bigger points by taking him down. Madsen wins the round but by control, not damage.

Second round Madsen completely looking for the takedown. Schaub defending well. Back to standup and Madsen backing up. It looks like he’s gone to hoping to win the decision. Schaub moving forward and gets the shot he’s been looking for. A big, straight right hand puts Madsen down for good.

Best Moment:

The knockout. Although the volleyball segment was kinda fun there really wasn’t much said between the two coaches. Schaub gets best moment for delivering one of the best finishes of the season.

Kimbo Watch:

We’ll see what happens with that left knee. It doesn’t seem like anything too serious and we all know Kimbo has moved on and is now training with American Top Team.

Spike TV is promising a huge Kimbo twist…that may be true but I’m still not a believer that Kimbo is coming back to fight McSweeney. We will see.