By Denny “The Mad One” Hodge
It’s time for the second show, and after this final and 12th episode, we will know the match ups for the Ultimate Finale. Junie is involved in a scuffle outside of the Octagon once again, so stick around to see if a third time is a charm for the hot headed young fighter.
Krzysztof Soszynski and Vinny Magalhaes, both of Team Mir, will face off for the right to fight Ryan Bader in the Light Heavyweight finals. Krzysztof informs us that a black belt in jiu jitsu becomes a brown belt when he gets hit, and turns into a white belt after taking combinations.
The fight is on with both fighters feeling each other out. Vinny advances and misses with his initial punches. Krzysztof is stalking Vinny, and Magalhaes uses this against Sos, jumping to guard immediately once the distance is closed.
Vinny starts working a little rubber guard and throwing elbows from the bottom. He is grabbing for an arm looking for a quick submission victory. Krzysztof shakes his arm free and stands over Vinny, with his corner screaming for him to back away and get the fight back on the feet.
Soszynski lands a nice straight left as Vinny is backing away. Vinny’s corner is yelling for him to punch, but he is not engaging. Krzysztof lands a nice crisp low kick, followed by several more in a row. Vinny is being urged to shoot by his corner, and eventually he moves forward looking to land a right.
Vinny misses with the right and lands on his back, with Sos stepping back so he can get back to his feet. The fighters exchange and Vinny is back on the mat again, with Krzysztof standing over him. Vinny goes for a leg and Soszynski spins out.
Vinny is back on his feet and clinching with Krzysztof. Krzysztof has double unders against the cage, but Vinny uses his overhooks to pull guard and control Soszynski’s posture.
Vinny works a high guard and sets up a triangle attempt, then transitions to an arm bar forcing Sos to tap out. The finals are now set for the light heavies with Ryan Bader facing Vinny Magalhaes in the Ultimate Finale.
Junie is clearly frustrated during his training session, and feels like his timing is way off due to lack of mat time. He actually tells Mir that he doesn’t even want to fight. Mir calls Junie “a head case”.
At the house, Junie is giving his opinion on the match ups, and Shane Primm defends his team mates, resulting in a glass being thrown at his face by Junie.
Shane stands up to defend himself and tries to talk Junie into calming down. Junie admits that he “[expletive] up big time”. Is this the end of the Junie Browning train wreck?
The house is in shock following the incident, and Dana is seen coming through the door. Dana takes Junie to the side to find out what is going on, saying, “I can’t figure out if your retarded, bi-polar, or if you’re one of those dudes that are afraid of failing”.
Junie tells Dana that the house is affecting him with all of the pressure, and Dana tells him that he should have been kicked off the show 3 times. Dana believes that Junie wants to go home just to “talk” about how he would have won the show had he stayed.
Dana leaves Junie’s fate in the hands of the other fighters. He puts the ball in their court to show them that there is no favoritism being shown to Junie by allowing him to stay in the house following his latest outburst of violence.
Dana’s pep talk and discussion with the other fighters result in the quote of the year:
“This ain’t [expletive] ‘Survivor’ and [expletive],” White says. “Vote ’em off? [Expletive] beat ’em off. That didn’t sound good did it?”
Uhhh, no Dana that didn’t sound good…
That line cut the tension immediately and the other fighters unanimously sound off to let Junie fight and get sent home for the right reason. Efrain Escudero wants his fight…
The fight starts with Junie doing some strecthes, and both fighters exchange low kicks to get it started. Junie throws a nice left with Escudero staying with the leg kicks. Junie counters with a strong shot to Efrain’s midsection.
Escudero slips a Junie punch and takes him down landing in half guard and going for a guillotine. A scramble ensues, and Junie creates enough distance by pushing off, to get back to his feet.
Both fighters connect with shots, then go to the clinch, with Junie pressing Escudero against the cage. Junie is working for a single, but Efrain is defending nicely all the while throwing short elbows.
Nice knee from the clinch by Escudero, followed with some close quarters dirty boxing by both fighters. They disengage and work their way back to the center of the Octagon.
Efrain is continuing to throw leg kicks, with Junie countering with kicks of his own.
Efrain throws a nice combo, and Junie is starting to fatigue. Escudero scores with a right straight down the middle. Less than a minute to go in round 1. Junie goes for the body late in the round and both fighters are toe to toe to end the round.
Round 2 begins with both fighters landing right hands. Escudero misses with a follow up right hand, and Junie shoots for a takedown but is stuffed.
Junie is still working the body, with Efrain countering with a combo of his own. Browning lands a flush right hand but Efrain is unfazed by the punch.
Escudero is sticking to his game of low kicks, but then changes levels and gets a takedown. Efrain is on top in half guard and looking to advance position.
Junie is controlling his posture by locking his hands around Efrain. Efrain counters with a nasty cross face eliciting an ugly face from Junie.
Junie turns into Efrain, and Escudero is working on isolating an arm and going for a D’arce choke. He secures it, and Junie taps! Escudero is advancing to the finals and will be facing Phillipe Nover.
Junie is clearly disappointed, going as far as saying this is last fight and that he doesn’t have what it takes to keep going. I highly doubt this is the last time we see Junie Browning…
The finals are set and look like this:
Light Heavyweight-
Ryan Bader vs. Vinny Magalhaes
Lightweight-
Phillipe Nover vs. Efrain Escudero