What’s going on everyone? We have finished the second to last episode of the season and the end is in sight.

With the Finale June 4th just ten days away we wrap up last night’s episode. Obviously not my favorite episode but an entertaining on none the less.

Chuck helps Charlie

One of the first things that we see on this episode may not be the most prolific event of the season, but I find it definitely worth mentioning.

After Chuck finished off Javier in the wild card bout, he was awarded a $5000 bonus for finishing the fight. It has been mentioned a little bit that Charlie has been battling to see his son for the better part of two years.

To all those who have never dealt with this, it can be a very long and expensive process. I did my best to hide it (laughing) but I am sure most people can see my daughter is my heart and soul!

With that said I felt Charlie’s pain in this situation and when I heard of Chuck’s plan to give him part of his win bonus I was an instant “Cold Steel” fan.

It is not my place to say what he gave Charlie but even though I said I wouldn’t, I will say he did give him a portion of it towards his battle to see his son.

Mad respect to both Charlie and Chuck in this situation and my best wishes to Charlie.

Zach Davis vs. Chuck O’Neil

With that side note out of the way, back to the show. We have the first match-up of the show featuring Zach Davis and Chuck O’Neil.

Never getting a chance to actually be in team Lesnar training sessions, I am growing more impressed on how involved Brock is. Most notably with Chuck and his preparation for his last two fights.

We are promised to see more of the real “Cold Steel” in this next fight. If I am being completely honest I thought it was a bit unfair that Zach had to fight someone he had already beaten.

Although I do believe Chuck has proven he deserves another chance in the competition, I would have liked to have seen him fight someone different.

That is just my opinion and as we all know does not mean much on this issue ha-ha.

Well the stage is set for the rematch of the preliminary fight that saw Zach finishing Chuck with a triangle choke in the first round. This was an unreal entertaining fight with a lot of great strikes and very back and forth.

Going into the break between the first and second I thought it was very close with a slight advantage going to Chuck. As the second round gets deeper Chuck seems to pull farther into the lead landing blow after blow.

We later find out Zach tore both retinas in the fight, an astonishing fact as he kept fighting hard. Both men proving to be true warriors in the cage.

At the end Chuck takes the decision 20-18 avenging his first round loss to Zach. This just proves in our sport you just need to be the better man on that night.

Tony Ferguson vs. Ryan McGillivray

Now to the more disappointing fight between myself and Tony. Going into this fight I knew Tony was a strong wrestler with some pretty heavy good hands.

My game plan was to try to land something early as I had a secret injury I was trying to keep hidden and didn’t know how long I could fight for.

The doctors at the hospital advised me not to fight but it is not in me to quit and I decided to risk it.

Unfortunately as we find out very early into the first round I perhaps made the wrong choice. I got caught with an uppercut early and my worst nightmares were realized as I was dropped and could not recover.

Injuries are a part of our sport and even more so in this kind of a competition and by no means am I making excuses. Every fighter in the house was dealt a different hand and made the best of what they had.

I have no regrets about my experience on the show and if given another chance, I would have fought again every time.

Sometimes you get caught in this sport, but as you could see on the show I got right back up and never stayed down, just as I have done metaphorically in my career.

I will be back stronger and will show better my next time out.

Semifinal match-ups announced

With this the semi-final match-ups are up next. It will be Chris Cope vs. Ramsey Nijem in the first semi-final fight.

Ramsey seems to be favored and once again Cope being the underdog. It will be interesting to see if Cope will be able to pull another one out or if Ramsey will be too much for him.

This leaves Tony Ferguson to face off against Chuck O’Neil. Tony has yet to reach the second round and has looked very convincing.

Although Chuck has had a tough road he has proven to one of the toughest guys in the house and seems to be getting stronger as the show goes on.

House Fight!

Lastly we end the show with a very sad side of what alcohol can do to people. I do not want to spend a lot of time on what happened between Tony and Charlie as I think the fights should remain the focal point.

The two had some drinks that night and were fooling around and things got out of hand. With an accident through the coffee table Tony turned a fun night into something we all wish never happened.

Some things were said to Charlie about his son that should never ever be uttered and I was shocked to witness them. Charlie did an amazing job keeping his cool and not doing something he would regret, and deserves a lot of respect.

I am sure to this day Tony regrets that night and what was said and I hope that one day he can somehow make up for it. He really is a solid guy, but as many people, do not become the nicest people with alcohol.

I think that is enough on that point as I would really like to forget that even happened as it still makes me very upset.

Winding Down

I hope everyone enjoyed this episode and the “first” fight ha-ha. I will be back next week with the final episode where we will see who will be in the finals June 4th at the Palms.

One last thing, I would like to thank Dana White, Joe Silva and all those who had a hand in giving me the opportunity that I was very blessed to receive.

Also the countless people that have sent their support and positive words my way in a hard time in any fighter’s career. I am very lucky to have such great people behind me and I look forward to making things right next time around.

If you need to catch up on Ryan’s blog from previous episodes check out the archives here: Ryan McGillivray’s TUF 13  blog.

Ryan McGillivray’s TUF 13 blog will be posted on ProMMAnow.com following each Wednesday night episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos. Be sure to follow Ryan on Twitter @KidMcGillivray.

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