Episode 3 kicks off at the house with some shots shared between last week’s opponents, Jeffrey Lentz and Alex Caceres. Caceres continues to talk about how well he fought, and his continuous chatter is already wearing on the other fighters.
At the training center, Team GSP is working on wrestling with Gia Sissaouri, who was brought in by St. Pierre to give the guys a taste of world class wrestling. The overall mood is still light and fun with the team, just like St. Pierre wants from his fighters.
Team Koscheck on the other hand is more regimented. A couple of the fighters appear to be wearing down, but Coach Koscheck is having none of it.
“The first half of training today was lackluster,” said Koscheck. “And I let the guys know it.”
Coach Koscheck reiterates to his team about “mindless training.” His philosophy is focus and hard training, without excessive thought. The pep talk results in some noticable progress. Team Koscheck looked much tighter during the second half of the training session.
With Team GSP winning the last fight, control of determining the next bout remains with Coach GSP. St. Pierre immediately puts his number one draft pick Michael Johnson in for the next elimination bout, and selects Aaron Wilkinson from Team Koscheck as his opponent.
Coach GSP is preparing Johnson to put Wilkinson on his back believing that the aggressive brit will over-commit in his striking attack in the bout.
Usually it is one of the fighters that start the pranks off every season, but this season it is Coach Koscheck. Kos saw an opportunity upon arriving at the training center to mess with GSP’s car. Koscheck got a couple of cars and parked them close enough on both sides of GSP’s car, that the doors would not open all the way.
It seems like a futile attempt to ruffle St. Pierre’s feathers, and it has virtually no affect on the UFC’s welterweight champion, who simply smiles and slides into his car.
Back to business in the Octagon, as Team Koscheck’s assistant coaches prepare Wilkinson for his upcoming fight with Johnson.
After both fighters make weight, UFC president Dana White weighs in himself about the upcoming bout.
“I believe that Michael Johnson is one of the best guys here,” said White. “But I think Wilkinson is tough, and I think that’s a tough fight… I think that the fight can go either way.”
Coach GSP calls the UFC president and requests a visit from Mike Tyson. White makes a call and just like that, “Iron Mike” is in the house.
St. Pierre lets Tyson know just how big a fan he is, even telling Tyson that he used to play Mike Tyson’s punch out back in the day. Damn I loved that game!
It’s fight time! Who is going to bring out their inner “Iron Mike” in this fight?
Michael Johnson (Team GSP) vs. Aaron Wilkinson (Team Koscheck)
Round 1 – Johnson feints first then scores with a leg kick. Wilkinson comes back with a straight right hand that looks crisp. His boxing looks nice. Both guys exchange, then Johnson lands a stiff left hand, then clinches. Johnson works for the take down and gets it but Wilkinson is quickly back on his feet.
Wilkinson lands a nice right hand and is starting to come forward now. Johnson not throwing as much now but lands a nice leg kick. Wilkinson shoots but Johnson stuffs the take down attempt. Johnson reverses, and pushes Aaron against the cage. They break, and Wilkinson comes forward with another right hand. Johnson comes back with a left hand that backs up Wilkinson. Leg kick by Wilkinson.
Johnson changes level and shoots a beautiful double leg getting an easy and powerful take down. Once again Wilkinson is up quickly not taking much damage. Wilkinson looking for a take down now going for a single against the cage.
Wilkinson snatches him off the cage and gets the take down. Wilkinson is in Johnson’s half guard and is landing nice left elbows with about a minute to go. Johnson does not look comfortable on his back. Wilkinson is still landing nice left hands and grinding elbows and looks to finish the round strong. Johnson finally works to guard but is still on his back as the bell sounds. Round 1 goes to Wilkinson with that strong finish.
Round 2 – Johnson starts with a jab, then misses with a leg kick. Johnson connects with a nice superman punch just beating Wilkinson to the punch. Johnson clinches and looks to take the fight to the ground. Wilkinson pushes off and takes the center of the cage. Wilkinson lands a four punch combo, forcing Johnson to shoot again. Johnson closes the distance then works Wilkinson to the ground.
Wilkinson is staying active but gives up his back. Johnson takes it, but Wilkinson scrambles and is out, then up on his feet. Wilkinson comes forward with a nice right hand, then lands several knees in the clinch, before once again taking Johnson to the mat. He is in the exact same position as in Round 1, but this time, he scrambles, gets his feet, then takes Wilkinson down. Wilkinson may be fading a bit. He is turtled up and taking some shots. Once again, the brit gets back to his feet pretty quickly.
Both guys look a little winded now with 1:40 to go. Both guys are throwing single punches instead of combos. Wilkinson lands a nice right hand, works in a leg kick, then clinches looking for a take down. Johnson stuffs it, circles out and presses Wilkinson against the cage.
His corner is screaming for knees and he throws one landing it to the face of Aaron. Wilkinson pushes off and then looks for a take down of his own. This will be huge if he gets it. Johnson stops it but will it be enough to send it to a third. It was a close round, but we are going 3….
Round 3 – Johnson comes out strong landing a nice combo then takes Wilkinson to the ground, and is inflicting some serious ground and pound. Wilkinson is covering up from the punches, then gives up his back. Johnson takes the back, and sinks in a rear naked choke, and just like that, it’s over. Johnson came out on fire in that round, and simply overwhelmed Wilkinson.