Dana goes to the guys in the house and “asks” their opinion if Junie should be allowed to stay in the house after throwing a glass at Shane Primm and taking some swings at him.
What is interesting about the scene is that they didn’t even ask or show Shane Primm’s opinion if Junie should stay and he’s the one Junie exploded on.
Dana knows that Junie has caused controversy and has helped the ratings. He admits as such to Junie, “You’re a great f*cking reality star cause you’re a f*ck up” or something to that effect.
Rather than keeping Junie on like he wants, Dana goes to the group and asks if Junie should be allowed to stay or be sent home. Except instead of asking their opinion, Dana uses probably the greatest display of the power of suggestion anyone has ever witnessed, “I know what you guys want. You guys want to see him stay here and get his ass kicked don’t you?” The group responds, “Yeah…” Dana is pleased his spell has worked, “Well there you go, they want Junie to stay and see him get his ass kicked.”
It’s understandable why he did this but to try and pose and pretend he was really leaving the decision for Junie to stay or be sent home up to the TUF fighters in the house is just absurd and it insults the viewer’s intelligence.
What if the group had objected and said, “No Dana this is unfair we feel he should be sent home.” Does anyone really believe he would have sent Junie Browning home?
So Junie stays and gets his ass handed to him and everyone including viewers certainly must feel a certain justice was served. Remember back when Junie told his house mates early in the season how good he was, “You will see, it’s not all hype.” It turns out it was all hype. Those who are truly skilled have no need to try and convince others.
After the fight Junie mopes around feeling sorry for himself and says he’s quitting and will go flip burgers or find another way to earn a living. However, after he’s had time to cool off and at the end of the episode the last scene we see is a close up of Junie and he assures the MMA world he isn’t really going to quit fighting.
After filming for TUF 8, Junie made the move to Vegas has been training with Shawn Thompkins and the gang at Xtreme Couture. He recently appeared in studio on TAGG Radio and appears to have matured quite a bit since the show. He’s definitely in a camp that won’t put up with the kind of antics we saw on The Ultimate Fighter and it looked as though Thompkins may have taken Junie under his wing a little bit. With that kind of tutelage and with his new found commitment, it’s safe to say we haven’t seen the last of Junie Browning.
-Jack Bratcher